Dark Reign
by pandaaling
Summary: OOC/AU- She abandoned her name years ago, she goes by the name Nix now. Contracted by others to hunt down missing loved ones and settle disputes soon she runs into her best friend's husband. Only he isn't everything he seems to be and he needs her help.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Nix, stop this," he gripped her arm strongly, pulling her to the side of the corridor they were walking in.

"You don't tell me what to do Max, I don't care for it and we both know there's no other way to stop this from happening. Besides, I can kick some ass even if my junk ain't workin." Nix tapped on her head and tilted it side to side jokingly, letting her brown hair flow all around her before she quickly flitted away from Max's grip.

He didn't like it when they were placed in all-or-nothing situations. "Nix!" he yelled with warning, of course she ignored him and continued on her way. Max let out a frustrated sigh and chased after Nix, if she was going to do this, then she wasn't going to be alone. Max was a human, well mostly human; he had traces of demon inside him that made him stronger and more versatile than your average man, it made him one of better candidates for being Nix's partner.

Nix moved quickly through the halls, slowly down only to catch voices now and then as she approached her target. She could hear Max approaching and instantly held her arm out to stop him from going any further. Max stopped right behind her, "I'll go in and distract him, you do the grab and dash, once you're out I'll take out the targets. Got it?" Max started to argue with her but she held up two fingers and issued his silence. "No buts, this is how it goes, there's a child in there. We can't take the risk of you playing hero and getting you both blown to smithereens."

Max's eyebrows drew together in anger, instantly he pushed her hand down, "Fuck that Nix, I'm not leaving you in there alone to deal with those criminals! We're partners; we watch each other's backs. That's how it's been and how it will always be." A quiet laughter filled the corner they were tucked in.

"If you're watching my back then who's watching Sydney's, me? I'm going to be too concentrated on keeping them busy to be of much help for the girl." Nix pointed a slender finger to her temple, "Just because I can make em see shit doesn't mean they'll always comply, they might start shooting randomly. If that happens, and it probably will, I need you to get out of there as fast as possible." Max took in a big breath of air ready to refute her, but he released the breath as soon as he had taken it in. She was right. If their past missions taught them anything it was that hallucinations don't always calm people down. In fact more often than not, it caused people to fire their weapons in a wild frenzy, shooting at whatever hallucinations they saw flying at them. A few of those times Max had been hurt and Nix had to be the one to save his ass many times over.

Max nodded in solemn agreement and Nix gave him a brilliant smile. "Good, now let's go." Nix ran over to the door and burst through it, as she hit the floor she rolled out and landed on her feet. There was one gun shot before everything went silent. That was his cue. Max ran full speed into the room and saw the little girl, Sydney, grabbed her and ran back out of the room.

The hallucination wouldn't last much longer so she had to take her chances and hope that the disorientation the kidnappers would feel would last long enough for her to take them out. Nix filled her mind with a blank space and sprang forward, jutting out with her legs into the first of the kidnappers. As the man fell Nix pulled out a gun that was holstered at her side and fired into the man's temple, he fell to the floor before anyone else had realized what was going on.

"_Two more to go_," Nix thought to herself. She stayed perched on her legs, crouching down as low as she could and fired two rounds into the next man. She wasn't as lucky with the third man however. It had taken too much time to eliminate the first two kidnappers, by the time Nix had her gun trained on the third captor, he had his own trained on her. They fired at the same time. Nix saw the man fall to the floor and groan loudly in pain just as she felt herself go still with pain. She gritted her teeth in order to stay quiet and quickly jumped to the injured man and snapped his neck between her two hands.

Nix was sweating profusely, she hadn't yet mastered hallucinations and it took a lot of her energy to produce one, even more when she tried to produce a conjured image from her mind instead of a random one from the captors. As Nix reholstered her gun she felt a sharp twinge of pain in her side, "fuck," she said out loud. Unwilling to faint at this time she urged herself to keep going, digging into her energy reserves to keep going. Ignoring the pain she felt and the lulling sensation of sleep she ran back outside to meet Max at their gathering place.

"Jesus Christ Nix," Max half whisper-yelled as he looked her over. She was pale and sweating like crazy, she was at the verge of passing out but she was trying to hold herself together. Her hand flew out to steady herself on Max.

"Sydney?" She asked breathlessly.

"She's fine. I put her in the car. Nix," he said with a worried tone, "You've been shot."

Nix chuckled weakly, "Oh really? I didn't know," suddenly she was aware that she was falling but she couldn't remember what happened after that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

*_Two days later*_

Nix awoke in her bedroom, tiny gadgets were hooked up to her, she assumed she lost a high amount of blood again and passed out, the familiar gadgets measured blood pressure and her heart rate. Her painted white room was blinding, she immediately regretted her choice to paint the room white instead of black. The beeping caused her to turn her head to the left, blood packets, "Jesus," she whispered.

"Yeah," came a voice from her side, her senses were dull and she hadn't been aware there was anyone in the room. Nix jolted and winced in pain, remembering where she had gotten shot. "You lost a lot of blood this time." Max had a stern voice and it was laced with his worry for her.

"How much?" Nix tried to ease herself into a sitting position but Max held her down with a gentle push at her shoulders.

"Too much for a human to live through. Now lay down."

Nix huffed and gave up struggling against him, "good thing I'm not human then." Max nodded quietly.

"I was scared Nix, the doctors thought they'd lost you a couple times."

"Well I'm still here aren't I?" She held her arms open to gesture to her well being. "My heart's beating, my BP is great, hell I feel great!" Max poked her in her sore spot which elicited a sharp withdrawal of breath from Nix. "Fucker."

"Nix, just because you're a demon doesn't mean you're indestructible. You could have died!" His fist was clenching and unclenching with all his pent up frustration.

"Well it comes with the job description. I'd be lying if I said I expect to live to have kids and a pretty white picket fence house, because I don't. I know what I got myself into, I know what to expect. Don't lecture me Max." Nix looked him straight in the eye, she may be injured and sore all over but she wouldn't be lectured by anyone at this moment.

"I'm not lecturing you Nix, I'm just saying, be more careful. You still haven't mastered his whole hallucination magic goop glop and you're getting all banged up ready for deaths door."

"I know. I need to practice more, train more. I can do almost all the tricks; I just get tired way too fast. I feel like I'm just draining myself dry each time I do it."

"What do you mean?" Max's eyebrows rose up, nearly touching his hairline.

"I can create my own hallucinations now, well for a short period of time, after a bit I start to feel tired and lethargic. Yesterday after I blanked," a term they used to describe the process of halting a hallucination, "I just wanted to curl up and sleep for eternity. I was so tired."

"You can create your own hallucinations now? Does it take more energy to do that than when you take the hallucination straight from the victims mind?" Nix nodded.

"Yeah, but it's safer if I induce the hallucination, people are all sorts of fucked up and dream about crazy shit. When I induce the hallucinations I usually give people sexual fantasies or disgustingly happy scenarios. It keeps them happy but not trigger happy." Max nodded but he still didn't look relieved to hear about how weak her hallucinations made her feel. Eager to move on to a different subject other than how she felt she asked Max how Sydney was.

"She's fine, a little scared but other than that unhurt. Her dad wants to thank you personally." He raised an eyebrow at her causing Nix to burst out with laughter only to recoil from pain.

"I don't think it's that type of 'thank you' considering the man is happily married. Maybe he's giving us a bonus?" Nix gave him a coy smile.

"Details Nix. Those are all minor details!" Max laughed and patted Nix gently on her shoulder before he got up. "Anyways, I told the guy that you'd be willing to see him tomorrow night." Normally Nix would have been upset that he'd chosen tomorrow to see her clients when she was so banged up but with her powers maturating that meant that all her normal functions had sped up considerably. Not only was she stronger and faster than normal but she also healed faster than she normally did.

"Sounds good, tell Melissa that you have the next week off," Nix gave him a wave goodbye from her bed as he walked out. Before Max shut the door she heard him laugh and say, "She'll be thrilled! Until she finds out you're calling me into work early again." Nix rolled her eyes and went back to sleep.

As expected the next day Nix felt barely any pain at all the only remnants of the shot she had taken was the little red swelling. Running her fingers over the injury to inspect it she noticed how little it hurt and how fast it had healed. Previous injuries had taken weeks or longer to heal; she couldn't help but feel a little excitement at the reveal of her new abilities. It was close to six p.m. She'd have to leave soon if she was going to be on time for her meeting with Mr. Claut at eight. Putting the bowl she used for dinner in the sink she quickly ran to her bathroom and took a quick shower. Within ten minutes Nix was clean and ready to go wearing her favorite white blouse and grey slacks with black high heels. Tonight wasn't going to be a night she'd need her weapons so she left them at home, if anything was going to threaten her tonight she was confident her speed and agility would be enough to subdue anyone foolish enough to agitate her.

As she got ready to depart she slipped on her glasses, normally she didn't like wearing her glasses but she knew it would be pretty awkward to walk around squinting every now and then because her eye sight was blurred. She'd often opted for contacts but she thought these glasses matched with her business esque look tonight. Stepping out of her small ranch home nestled in the corner of suburbia she sighed with contentment as she slid into her new black Audi A6. She'd saved for years to purchase her dream car and now she finally had it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She pulled out of her driveway and made her way to the Claut residence. He lived forty-five minutes away from her in a rich business neighborhood; she'd only been there once before on another occasion years before for a friend's birthday to be exact. Amelia, her dearest friend had gotten married and moved in with her husband only to go missing two weeks after moving in. Anger flushed her skin, she'd seen all the signs but for some reason she never placed two and two together. After their party Amelia had taken Nix aside and given her something, an amulet of some sort, and told her to keep it protected. At the time she hadn't thought much of the amulet except that it must have been something important that she couldn't keep with her husband in the house since Amelia was a witch. Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, it'd been two years since that incident and Nix still couldn't figure out what the hell the amulet was. Two years and she was still looking for Amelia, there had been no traces of her whereabouts and her husband had no idea where she went.

Amelia was always talking about how she would only marry the 'right' man but Nix always had a nagging feeling that her husband, David, had never been the right guy for her. Amelia, she was the kindest person she'd ever known, gentle to an extreme degree, but extremely protective of those she considered her family. How did someone that vibrant get married to someone like David? He was constantly brooding and there was always an air of mystery surrounding the man. If Nix didn't know how much of a sucker Amelia was for the gorgeous men she would have asked her what drew her to him, but of course David was downright sexy. His eyes were always the color of the sea, ever changing between green and blue. His eyebrows were stern, never giving any hint to how he felt and his jaw was sharp and chiseled. Those few times that they had met and greeted one another were the most charged moments in Nix's history. Something about David lured her in, was it dangerous? She never thought so but she remembered always being curious but never asked Amelia because she thought it might sound awkward.

Soon she pulled up to the front gates of the gated community. It was just as beautiful as she last remembered. Every house was magnificent in size and in beauty. Trees and flowers adorned the yards of the neighborhood and small residential lights lit up the streets. She remembered how excited Amelia was when she moved into the neighborhood, how glamorous she thought everything was, at the time Nix had never been happier for her friend, but looking at the houses now she noticed that there was a dark foreboding presence that lingered quiet community.

Choosing to ignore the dark presence Nix pulled up in front of the Claut residence and got out of her car elegantly, making sure to reapply her makeup and tidy any stray hairs that had escaped her French bun. Checking her reflection in the car mirror she made her way to the door, her heels clacking along on the pavement were the only noises to be heard on this quiet night. The house was large and painted grey, all the windows had their curtains drawn, and a creeping feeling began to make its way up her spine as she got closer to the house. She rang the door bell, it was quiet for a long time and she contemplated whether or not she should ring again but decided waiting never killed anyone and kept her place. After a couple minutes the door slid open, a small Asian woman looking in her fifties opened the door and nodded quietly gesturing for her to enter.

Nix cleared her throat as she entered the residence, noting the strong smell of pine needles and earth. "Please," the Asian woman began to walk down the long hallway. Nix was confused at first but followed the woman. Soon they were in front of a large set of doors; the Asian woman knocked twice and said, "Guest here," and walked away. Nix kept her eyes on the doors as her guide walked away.

She could hear shifting in the room and immediately stilled. Suddenly she smelled something very familiar and her heart rate picked up as the door swung open. First she noticed the man in front of her. He was wearing a dark red velvet robe cinched at the waist and brown loafers, _How very Hugh Hefner_, she thought with an amused look on her face. The familiar smell was permeating the entire room; Nix searched her mind for any hint as to why it smelled so familiar until she saw him. David. He was lounging in a chair staring at her with mild surprise; apparently the surprise was mutual because both of them just continued staring at each other for a moment before the other man in the room coughed to get her attention.

"Oh um, I'm sorry," Nix stole a quick glance at David before making eye contact and holding her hand out for Mr. Claut to shake. He took her hand and embraced it warmly, smiling at her he nodded and said, "It is of no problem to me," he pulled her along and settled her into the chair beside David. Nix felt uncomfortable sitting so close to her best friend's husband but didn't let it show on her face. Mr. Claut settled in the chair behind the desk they were situated.

"Your associate told you why you are here, correct?" Mr. Claut let a curious eyebrow raise in question.

"Yes Mr. Claut," he interrupted her,

"Jonathan please," Nix nodded and corrected herself,

"Yes, Jonathan, he did."

"Then you should know that I have another chore to ask of you." Nix was pulled out of her fog of surprise.

"Another chore?" She asked with curiosity, Max hadn't told her anything about another chore. "I'm sorry Jonathan, I was under the impression that you merely wanted to thank me for my services." _I'm going to punish that oaf_, Nix mentally promised herself.

"Oh," Jonathan was up now, pacing behind his chair in front of a closed curtain, he looked worried for a second. "I did want to thank you," he quickly added before the worry dissipated from his face, "you saved Sydney." David kept his features plain and made it almost seem as if he was bored with the conversation. Nix ignored him and smiled kindly at the father.

"It's no big deal, really."

"I heard from Max?" He asked her and Nix nodded, "That you were injured." She could feel her eyes widen, _crap_.

"It wasn't bad, I'm completely fine now, and just some bruises and scratches." Jonathan looked confused and asked her to clarify. "I only received a few minor injuries," maybe the man had hearing problems, Nix hated repeating herself.

"That's not what I heard." Nix swallowed the lump in her throat; no one knew her capabilities. Jonathan must have noticed her unease because he flashed a brilliant smile, however instead of making her feel comfortable it only made her feel more awkward. "I mean, that's not what Max said to me." That piqued her interest.

"What did Max say?" Nix tried to keep a confident look on her face, not willing to slip up again and let her emotions be detected as easily.

"He said that you were shot and that you lost a lot of blood." Nix settled her hands in her lap and smiled casually.

"I get injured a lot; my home is set up for those types of emergencies. Can barely feel the little bugger now." Nix laughed quietly and noticed David's eyes were on her again; his eyes were seeking, searching for some kind of truth in her words.

"He also told me you were a demon," Jonathan said calmly. Nix could feel her fear rising, she wished she had read the dummies guide for how to unfuck yourself in a fucked up situation.

"Max likes to tell stories," judging from the look on Jonathan's face he wasn't buying it.

"I would not ask you to do this if I suspected you were human, but as it turns out you aren't. Please. You are the only two I can ask." The 'what the fuck' face must have made itself apparent because Jonathan was suddenly on her knees in front of her. "I beg you, both of you," he looked around Nix to make contact with David, "there is something in our world that does not belong here. It seeks to destroy me and all that I love." The man behind Nix decided to speak up; his deep voice reverberated in her ears and sent chills down her spine.

"Why do we have to do anything for you? You say this darkness is hunting you and seeks to hurt those you love, what does it have to do with us?" Although Nix agreed with David she couldn't agree with his harsh word choice. She laid her hand on the crumpled form of the man in front of her and pulled his face up to meet his eyes with her own.

"It's not that we don't want to help, we just don't understand why it has to be us." Surely there was a better solution to his problems than seeking out a demon and whatever the fuck David was. David obviously didn't agree with the way she worded things because he was about to protest, but Nix shot him a sharp look telling him to keep his mouth closed. Jonathan looked into Nix's eyes, she gasped with shock because his eyes were no longer the deep blue that they were earlier, they were now grey. Instantly David was by her side looking down at the man but kept silent. In a voice that sounded as if it traveled across eons he whispered, "There is a prophecy that foretells the coming of the darkness. It will engulf those that dare to challenge it and fight it for dominion." Nix's eyebrows drew together in confusion, a prophecy? She was more confused than she would have ever thought possible. Jonathan continued, "The destined one capable of invoking imitations of reality will sunder the darkness, but without the guidance of others she will surely fall." Jonathan began trembling and sweat was beading on his forehead.

Nix took her hand and smoothed away the worry on Jonathans face, placing tender words of kindness into his ear. Jonathan stopped trembling enough for him to continue speaking. "If caught alone, she will be torn to pieces, made slave to the darkness, blind to all that is not born of hatred. But one nightwalker will bring the changing tides and breathe life back into that which has already perished." Nix looked from the drenched face of Jonathan to David looking for help of some sort. David immediately took Jonathan from his spot on the ground and pulled him over his shoulder, carrying him out of the room with relative ease. Nix trailed after David quickly, tension laced each nerve in her body as she followed the two men in the hallway up the stairs.

"Open the door," David said with a deafening command.

"David, I don't understand, this is Sydney's room," worry caused Nix to furrow her eyebrows together. David didn't answer her, instead he broke down the door and strode in, dumping Jonathan on the ground in front of the little girl.

"What are you," David spat the words at the child, instantly Nix went to comfort the child. She didn't understand why David was being so cruel to Sydney; she didn't understand why Jonathan was laying in a broken heap at the feet of David. When Nix took Sydney into her arms calming the child down from her little tremors David began to move closer and closer to Nix, taking large intimidating steps. Instead of being frightened of David she stood up with the child in her arms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Come any closer and I swear I will land you on your ass," Nix warned to the encroaching aggressor.

"Nix," David said with a deep hint of warning, he was still walking towards them, hands outstretched. "Give me the girl Nix." Nix gave him a blood curdling glare.

"If you think I'm going to hand this child over to you then you are dead wrong. Back off David, I mean it." Nix began taking small steps backwards, if she was going to have to fight off David then she was going to have to make sure she had full function of her limbs. David was 6'4" to her 5'6", he'd already have a height advantage over her, and she didn't need to have a handicap anymore than she already did. David took two quick steps towards Nix, faster than she'd ever moved before Nix tucked Sydney into the corner of the room and stood guard in front of the little girl. David stopped for a moment, she'd surprised him with her fast movements, but soon that surprise was forgotten because he said, "Nix step away from the girl."

Nix shook her head and settled into a defensive stance, crouching down a bit and holding her arms in front of her. She kept her eyes on David watching for any small movements, when she made it apparent that she wasn't going anywhere David struck. In any other circumstances she would have gotten knocked out, but due to her heightened senses she was able to catch David before he made contact with her. Before his arm would connect with her abdomen Nix jumped to the side and swung her knee up to make a counter blow. This time she was caught off guard because David moved faster than she anticipated. Instead of feeling the crunching of his ribs when her knee swung up, she was lifted off balance. David had caught her momentum and had flipped her over on her back. Not willing to go down without a fight Nix began squirming underneath David, using what little space she had to make small offensive movements. David's strength was surprising.

David was straddling her and was using his forearms to trap her own under his weight. Nix could vaguely hear the panicked breathing of Sydney, her heart rate was picking up. Not wanting to traumatize the child any more than they already had Nix began to calm herself. With David being so close she needed to hurry and coax him into one of her hallucinations. The only thing she knew about David was that he had married Amelia, so she fixed an image in her head of her missing best friend and sent it into David's consciousness. Her own self awareness was hazy but she could already feel the weight on her arms lessen a bit. Not wanting to wear herself out anymore than she already had she instantly blanked and used all the strength she could muster to throw David off of herself. As soon as she was free she rolled and got to her feet.

Sydney was sitting huddled in the corner, David was already getting up and struggling to make his way back to the child so Nix picked the girl up and wrapped herself around the child to shield her as best she could from her next action. Just as David had gotten within reaching distance Nix threw herself out the window with Sydney in her arms. The glass had cut into her back and she could feel her flesh tearing, all her instincts told her to release what she was holding and self preserve herself but logic told her otherwise. She would live from this, the child would not. As she fell from the third story of the house she looked up and saw that David was at the window preparing to leap. Nix prayed for contact with the ground to come faster and when it did she let out a deafening scream.

Large pieces of glass had been wedged in her flesh, when she made connection with the ground all the glass got pushed further into her back. David was jumping now, although she was weak and hurting tremendously Nix hoped that she would be able to out run David and get to her car faster than he would get to her. Coughing up some blood as she turned to get to her feet she began running, cursing the heels that she was wearing.

"NIX STOP!" David was calling out; worry the prevalent tone in his voice. She ignored him and pushed herself even harder. Her lungs burned and the taste of blood was ever present in her mouth. She was almost to her car when Sydney started laughing. Nix thought it curious but attributed her laughter to the events of tonight, everyone had their own way to deal with trauma, and maybe this was Sydney's.

Sydney was moving in her arms, cackling, frankly it was creeping Nix out, but Nix was frantic to stay away from David. Finally at her car Nix reached in her pockets and fished out her keys unlocking the door in record time. David was still running to the car so she didn't have much time. She cast the girl in to the car with a little more force than necessary and maneuvered herself into the car. The glass was still cutting into her back and the pain was almost unbearable, Nix bit back her screams and let out little puffs of air as she tried to calm herself. She wasn't coughing blood anymore so that was good but there were still large shards of glass trapped in her back.

As she started the car she felt movement behind her and then her door flew open. Immediately her eyes flew to the intruder and she kicked David as hard and she could before she noticed Sydney was behind her. "SYD- AHHHH!" For the second time that night Nix was overwhelmed with immense pain, struggling to keep her sensibility she looked to Sydney, only she was no longer a little girl. Sydney had turned into a large gruesome monster that was pale as a corpse; she could see the veins running underneath the monsters skin. The hair was long and black and matted to her head; from beneath her hair Nix noticed glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth. Sydney, or whatever the fuck it was, was laughing and licking its fingers. They were bloody from when they had slammed into Nix's back and forced the glass even further in.

Nix could feel the bile rising from her throat she struggled to get away from Sydney and rolled out of the car, vomiting blood along the way. As she regained some of her composure she noticed Sydney was coming after her, teeth bared and fingers curled into razor sharp talons. As she began backing away she stumbled on someone, David, he was passed out from when she had kicked him earlier. As beat up as she was she was still slightly in tune to what was going on. Sydney wasn't what she appeared to be at all, she was a monster, and David had known all along and tried to warn her.

Nix could see the small black dots begin to form around her consciousness and she knew she would faint soon, but she couldn't leave David there to deal with the monster alone. "David," she urged him to wake up, touching his skin she noticed how cold it was and dread began to slither up her spine. Was he dead? Had she killed him when she kicked him away from the vehicle?

"David!" she urged again in hushed tones. She was shaking him violently but he was still and unmoving. David was dead and Nix would be too by the end of this night. Nix was far too weak to do anything crazy, but if she could just keep her wits about her maybe she would be able to overwhelm the monster. The monster was leisurely taking its time as it crept towards the two. Nix looked around fighting the dark spots in her vision for some weapons, when she couldn't find any she realized she still had the large piece of glass that was embedded in her back from earlier. It wasn't anywhere she couldn't reach she surmised so she reached her arm behind her to grasp the sharp edge of the glass. The shard was bloody so her fingers slipped off many times, _please, please, please!_ She silently begged. The monster was close now, and with one final heave of her energy she felt the glass slip out from her flesh and fall into her hand, relieved and in pain she staggered to her full height, staring the hideous beast down.

"If I'm going to die tonight, then I'm at least going to make sure I cut you up real good you son of a bitch!" The monster laughed something sinister, its mouth widening to reveal its teeth once again.

A dark and malevolent voice escaped from the monsters lips, "You will die tonight demon, and I will drain you, you can be sure of that," and it cackled. The monster circled Nix like a predator would to its prey. Keeping David behind her body Nix followed the monsters movements. It smiled and lunged for her, Nix stepped to the side and let her arm hang out, using the monsters own momentum against it to propel itself through the shard of glass. Immediately she felt blood pool over her arms, the monster cried out in pain, Nix couldn't help but chuckle. She was going to enjoy this.

Nix had been slowly healing, her cuts weren't bleeding nearly as much as they were before, but movement still hurt excessively. Lucky for her the monster wasn't fast; well it wasn't as fast as her. Nix used her agility to her own advantage, as the monster clung to its hand she ran. She wasn't as fast as she usually was, but she was fast enough to cause damage. Running a full circle around the beast had allowed her to slice into the monster a few more times. Nix was panting by the time she got back to her original place next to the body of David.

"You are weak demon," the monster hissed through clenched teeth, saliva dripping from its mouth onto the pavement underneath it. Nix hissed back at the demon looking at it from beneath her eyelashes. "How long will you be able to fight demon? Your blood calls to us," a long tongue sauntered out of the monsters mouth and licked its lips. She felt the need to cringe but she didn't want to give the monster the delight in seeing her reaction. "You may cut me but you will die before I bleed out," it laughed manically and struck out at Nix. She barely managed to escape the hit. After what seemed like eternity Nix was panting, she was growing lightheaded from the loss of blood, as such the monster even got a couple crippling hits on Nix. Her leg throbbed with pain and her head was bleeding from when she was slammed into the pavement. As she tried to catch her breath Nix noticed that that monster wasn't tired at all. The couple times that the monster had gotten close to Nix its tongue had flown out and traveled over her wounds, lapping at the trails of blood. It was as if the blood made the monster high with power, it grew faster and stronger, more confident in its actions.

"I tire of playing this game of cat and mouse with you demon. Before any of your blood is waste. Concede to me and I will end your suffering quickly, before long you will join that fool at your side." Nix looked down at David, tears stung her eyes; she had been too stubborn to listen. She wouldn't let her death be in vain. She would take this monster out with her last breath if she had to.

"I may die tonight monster, but I will make sure you will not live to see your next day." Using all of her remaining energy she flung herself at the monster, ignoring the burning sensation in her lungs, the heated throbbing in her left leg, and the pounding in her head. When she got close she jutted her arm out, squeezing her hand tight enough that she felt a new sensation of pain, and forced her hand with the shard of glass through the monster. She had skewered the monster but not before its claws had dug into her shoulder, squeezing so hard that she had to relinquish a scream of agony as pain tore through her.

Finally it was over, using her free hand she painfully forced the monsters claws out of her shoulder and let the monster drop to the pavement. Nix felt herself go cold and limp, she was vaguely aware that she was falling; the darkness overtook her before she made contact with the ground as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Nnngh," Nix let out a strangled cry as she felt something rubbing against her shoulder. She tried to brush the irritant off but her hand was slapped away. Slowly she opened her eyes, at first all she could see was a lone figure sitting by her side. There was a dim light on the nightstand next to her, Nix squinted her eyes to get a clearer view. "My glasses?" she asked weakly.

"They're broken, the lens is cracked," a voice said. Nix let out a frustrated sigh,

"I don't care if they're cracked, I can't see, give me my glasses." She held out her good arm and waited for the glasses to be dropped in them. The figure moved and soon she was reunited with her glasses. Nix slipped them on as best she could with one hand and when she did she screamed at the sight of the man.

"DAVID?" She asked with disbelief.

"My name isn't David," Nix started searching the man, if certainly looked like David, he smelled like him, he had the same dual colored eyes, the same deep resonating voice, but he was wearing different clothes.

"Twin?" Nix ended up asking. He shook his head.

"No, I was never David. My name is Eric." Eric could see the questioning look he gave her and lifted his shirt. At first Nix saw the expanse of his chest, how wide it was and how delectable it looked; she had to rein herself in before she licked her lips like the monster did. Then she noticed a small discoloration located just below his rib cage. There was a small dark bruise and then a larger one on top of it; oddly enough it was in the shape of the shoe she was wearing. When she looked back to Eric's face he had a bored look on his face, the same one he wore when they were in the room with Jonathan.

"I thought I killed you," Nix whispered, lowering her head to hide her eyes that tearing up again at the thought of seeing his body crumpled on the ground.

"You did," he said blatantly, Nix snapped her head back up to meet him eye to eye, "But I healed." He shrugged. "You kicked me so hard that it ruptured my internal organs. You think that bruise is bad? You should have seen it earlier." Nix wanted to chuckle but she was in too much pain when she winced Eric was standing and by her side.

"You're in a lot of pain?" He asked her.

"How could you tell?" She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes, and then she winced again. Even rolling her eyes caused too much pain. Jesus she really had gotten the shit beaten out of her. Eric rolled up his sleeves and bit into his wrist, blood seeped from the wound he gave himself, and then he held his wrist out to her.

"Drink." He ordered. Nix didn't understand what drinking his blood would do and she thought it was highly unsanitary.

"No thanks."

"Drink." He ordered again. "It will make you feel better." That got her attention. Reluctantly Nix put her lips to Eric's wrist, drinking a small gulp of his blood. It was surprisingly cold and sweet; it didn't taste as bad as she thought it would. After a few seconds of drinking the relief she felt was immense. The pounding in her head was gone as was the pain she felt in her shoulder. When the blood stopped coming she unlatched herself from his wrist.

"What are you?" Eric pulled his sleeve back down and sat back in his chair.

"Nightwalker," Nix had never heard of a nightwalker before and she let him know as much. "Vampire." _Oh that makes sense_. Nix decided not to ask any more questions, she still felt tired, probably from when she used her hallucinations on Eric but other than that she physically felt better. "Feel better?" he asked her after a couple minutes had passed.

"Yeah, loads in fact. Vampire blood doesn't taste as shitty as I thought it would." Nix managed a small laugh this time, she relaxed when the pain she expected didn't come.

"Good," his eyes looked dark, in this light they were green, they reminded her of Amelia, a dull ache appeared in her chest. Eric's voice broke through the miasma of her thoughts, "since you're feeling better, mind telling me what you are?"

"Didn't you hear Jonathan? I'm a demon. By the way, where is he?" So much happened that she had completely forgotten about Jonathan.

"Yes I heard the man, he's dead. He was a puppet for the monster; I assume he was created to lure you to him. I've never met a demon that could influence a vampire."

"I wouldn't know. I've never seen any other full demons other than myself. If Jonathan was just a puppet then does that mean all that prophecy shit he was spewing was complete bull shit?" Eric looked at her in appreciation and shook his head.

"No, unfortunately the prophecy was real. Odd, I've met other demons but none that could force vampires to hallucinate."

Nix grinned sadly, "Yup, that's me just call me one of a kind! I'm sorry if I uh, brought any bitter memories back for you. Amelia was the only thing I could think of to distract you." Eric didn't smile or look away from Nix when she mentioned Amelia. She couldn't help but feel some bitterness at how cold he was.

"It's fine. We didn't truly love one another as you know." The look of shock on Nix's face confused Eric. "You didn't know?" he asked her.

"Know what?" She said sternly, lifting herself into a sitting position and leaning against the headboard of the bed. "Spill." She commanded.

Eric shifted his eyes for a moment before Nix cleared her throat, clearly still waiting for an answer. "Amelia came to me for help." If he was hoping to end the conversation there Nix wasn't having any of it.

"And?" she urged.

"She was a witch," Nix nodded knowing that much, "She was looking for a way to seal the darkness. She was the first one to come across the hidden prophecy."

"Then how do you fit into any of this? Why did she go to you for help?" _Why didn't she come to me?_ She silently wondered.

"Her visions led her to me. I was the nightwalker the prophecy spoke of. It was not until tonight that I realized that the other half was you."

"But, I don't' understand. If you were only in her vision, why did you two get married?"

"We didn't. We had a common goal. We were searching for the prophesized demon using her magic. It would have looked odd for her to return to an unknown mans house each night. Amelia was a smart woman. She knew you would grow suspicious sooner or later. I suspect that she herself probably knew you were the other half of the puzzle, but she was searching for other demons."

"Why?" Amelia was keeping so many secrets from her, was this lack of confidence her failing as a best friend? She couldn't help the sinking feeling that she felt.

"Probably because she cares for you," Eric placed a hand on Nix's. The cold didn't feel awkward or unwelcome, in fact she liked the coolness of his skin, and she found it comforting. "There is much misfortune that the prophesized demon must go through. Amelia could not bear the thought of having you suffer through that amount of pain so she tried to search for different outlets."

"And you were ok with being a prophesized nightwalker?" Eric squeezed her hand gently and turned her hand over, tracing the faint red mark on her hand from where the glass had cut into her palm and fingers.

"I do not fear death. I've walked this earth long enough to know the joy of happiness and I've seen my fair share of sadness as well. Plus I was bored." He smirked that charming grin of his and Nix felt her insides go all mushy.

"Where is she now?"

"In the amulet that she gave you suppose."

"The amulet? WHY?" She tried to think back to all those times she had tried to figure out what the amulet's significance was.

"She began having dreams. The darkness, it sought her out. Amelia is a powerful witch, the darkness began calling for her in the weeks before she went missing. The calling never ceased. She told me of her plans to seal herself in the amulet, the calling would stop and her power would never be harnessed by the darkness."

I cried silent tears, Amelia was being tormented and now she was sealed inside a tiny little amulet. My best friend, "you dumb girl, you should have just come to me," I whispered under my breath. "How do I get her back to normal?"

"I do not know," he furrowed his eyebrow and looked around the room. "She left specific instructions for you, for your eyes only," he pulled out a pink envelope from a drawer in the nightstand and handed it to Nix. Her fingers were trembling as she reached out to take the letter from Eric. "Scared?" he noticed her shaking.

Instantly Nix shook her head, probably a little too hard because she could feel the wounds that were still healing reopen. She sucked in a sharp breath but kept her voice even and calm. "No, I'm not scared," she gazed into Eric's eyes, no longer feeling guilty from sneaking peeks at him every now and then. His eyes were searching hers and she felt it all the way into her soul. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent, "Just a little overwhelmed," she was still looking at Eric and he grinned. Realizing what she implied she quickly corrected herself, "the pain I mean. The pain is overwhelming," the blush must gave her away because Eric was opening chuckling at her. "Shut up." She grinned and looked back to the letter in her hands.

Eric didn't seem to be the type that would snoop but she didn't want to be rude and read the letter in front of him. "So," she asked breaking the silence, "what's so special about vampires?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. He smiled deviously,

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he teased. Nix laughed, but all joking aside, she found that she actually was quite curious about his kind; she'd only ever heard stories about them.

"Hmmm," she contemplated, "well it seems only fair that you answer my questions since I answered yours." She put the envelope to the side of her bed, taking the time to look around while she waited for Eric to answer. The room was big and painted in dark earthy tones, the complete opposite of her house which was painted in all white. To her right there was a large window that had what she identified as blackout curtains. _Interesting_. Across the room there were two doors, where they led she had no idea.

Eric's voice stopped her eyes from scoping out any more of the room. He held his hand out, fingers extended; one by one he tapped off a vampire's traits. As he listed the traits his fingers would go down one by one. "We burn in sunlight," one finger down, "our blood has magical qualities," another one down, "we're fast and we're strong," two more fingers down. With just his thumb sticking out Eric pointed at it and said nonchalantly, "and we drink blood."

"So nothing out of the ordinary other than you guys aren't allergic to crosses and garlic?" Nix asked.

Eric's eyes went wide as if he recalled something, "Oh nothing of that sort, but if you have a stake and some silver you can kill a vampire. Those are the only things we react badly to, other than the sun of course," he noted with a sly smile.

"What about tearing your head off and ripping your heart out of your body?" Nix was suddenly amused, eager to learn more about his kind.

Eric's eyes turned playful, his fangs popped out which surprised Nix but intrigued her even more, and she wondered how sharp they were. "You have a worrisome interest in the knowledge of what can kill a vampire." He licked one of his fangs, Nix leaned out towards him for closer inspection.

"Sorry, I've never met any other supernatural other than my assistant, and he's mostly human so his knowledge in this area is limited," before she had realized what she was doing her fingers were reaching to touch his fangs. Before they made contact with the sharp pair, they retracted back into Eric's gums with a dull snap.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Never?" Eric asked again. Slightly saddened by the fact that she hadn't gotten to touch his fangs Nix nodded quietly and settled her hands back over the bed sheets. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you do? I was under the impression that you were contracted by supernatural people and under their employment." Nix looked wide eyed at him in surprise,

"Oh no, no. I work under myself. We get contacted by humans every now and then to settle disputes or track down kidnappings and missing persons." She shrugged, "nothing crazy like tonight has ever happened."

"How long have you been doing this sort of work?"

"I started a little while after Amelia went missing, so about two years now. I was looking for Amelia, and somehow I bumped into other people who needed help tracking down their friends or loved ones," she looked at Eric and let out a happy sigh, "and now here I am," she laughed.

"Yes, here you are," Eric murmured a few seconds later. With nothing else to talk about Eric began to stand, "It is almost dawn, I must go to resting now. Do you require anything before I depart for the day?" Testing her pallet Nix noted how dry her mouth was and nodded.

"Some water please?" she batted her eyelashes at Eric and grinned. He nodded in understanding, with a whoosh of wind she felt him leave the room, only to come back seconds later with a tall class of cold water for her. "Thanks," she smiled warmly at him and gulped the entire glass down.

"If that is all I will be leaving now. You are free to roam the house at your leisure." He pointed to the first door on the right, across from where they were, "That door leads to the bathroom. I've already put towels and some clothing in there for your use tomorrow." Nix thanked him one last time and watched him walk out the room, shutting the door behind him. When she heard him make his way down some stairs Nix let out a contented sigh. Being next to Eric comforted her, now that she knew he wasn't entirely crazy, mysterious yes, but crazy no. She suddenly remembered the envelope Amelia had prepared for her and quickly brought it out.

Tearing the pink envelope open she noticed the perfect swirls of her best friend's handwriting. Taking out the letter she read it. '_Sookie,_' Amelia was the only person in the world who still called her Sookie, instead of it evoking hurt emotions Nix smiled. '_By now I've already sealed myself into the amulet I've given you. It is imperative that you keep it safe because that amulet will be harnessing my essence. Hopefully Eric has already informed you of our circumstance, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I knew you would have tried to interfere but I just had to find a different way. Sadly I couldn't find a solution, I'm so sorry Sookie. I'm getting physically weaker the longer is stay in my physical form, that's why I'm sealing myself inside the amulet. You're the only one that can bring me back out. According to the prophecy you're the demon that has to seal the darkness, but you need Eric to do so.' _Amelia put in a small smiley face at the end of the sentence which caused Nix to laugh. _'You've been giving him the stink eye, I can tell, so I'm giving you permission to violate that man,'_ now there was a lop- sided smiley face, _'just kidding. Well not really. Anyways, when that happens your blood will be the key to my release. Ta-ta for now my friend, and don't even think about going off to fight that dark thing on your own. I know you're strong but you're not that strong, you're gonna need me and Eric._' At the end of the letter there were small lips, no doubt where Amelia had kissed the paper to send Nix all her love.

Even though Nix was relieved that her friend was safe inside the amulet, she was confused. Her blood was the key to her release? Violating Eric would be the key to Amelia's release? Nix thought for a moment but deemed the violation unnecessary, after all Amelia said she was joking. What the hell had to happen in order for Nix to release Amelia from her prison? Nix was slowly starting to lose her mind when it dawned on her. She'd need Eric to defeat the ever growing dark presence… did that mean she would need to fall in love with Eric and then drip some of her blood on the amulet? Amelia could tell she was attracted to Eric and she was always nagging to her about how she should have settled down with a nice boyfriend… was this Amelia's sick way to hit two birds with one stone? Nix let out a harsh sigh and settled back into her bed. As she fell asleep she could feel the creep of a smile twitch the corners of her lips. _Leave it to Amelia to try and fix my love life and save the world at the same time._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As Eric walked out of the bedroom he laughed to himself, glad that Nix was feeling better. It'd been a long time since Eric had carried on an interesting conversation with another, let alone with Nix. He remembered the first time that they had ever met. Amelia had coaxed him into meeting with Nix to play him off as her boyfriend, since she and Eric had been working together so extensively. He expected Nix to be hotheaded and arrogant but what he got when he walked into the small café was anything but.

Sitting at the table wasn't a woman dressed haughtily; she was dressed for comfort, wearing a black T-shirt with jeans and sneakers. Most women that he saw these days were over dressed or underdressed for the occasion, but this was a simple meet and greet with the promise of coffee for the humans. She was deeply engrossed in reading a book on combat tactics and training, so much so that when Amelia approached the woman she jumped in shock, but quickly recovered and hugged her friend in a warm embrace.

She was laughing and securing her dark rimmed glasses back on the arch of her nose. "Sookie," Amelia pulled the blonde over to him, she wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either. "This is David; he's the guy I've been telling you about." Amelia giggled.

"Nix, it's a pleasure to meet you," she took Eric's hand carefully, meeting his eyes as she said,

"Smart boy," and patted Amelia's shoulder approvingly.

"Amelia warned me thoroughly," Eric joked. Nix laughed and the sound brushed his ears like the way the wind caressed the leaves.

"Come, sit!" She pulled them both over to the table she was sitting at and pulled out two empty seats for her companions. Her hair was slipping out of its messy bun but she didn't bother to fix it, it gave her a slightly wild look which for some reason turned the vampire on. In the dimly lit café her hair looked darker than its normal hazel color, but her eyes were extremely bright in the darkness, which was curious. It wasn't until later that he found out from Amelia that the reason her eyes were such a vibrant stormy blue was because she was a demon. He'd heard stories about demons before; their blood was supposedly extremely potent and capable of driving even the most controlled individual mad with ecstasy. With all the demons he had met in his thousand years of living, he had never felt even the slightest urge to taste their blood, yet the instant he had made contact with Nix and filled his nostrils with her scent, he wanted a taste.

Every now and then he'd notice Nix giving him a curious glance over, but he accustomed it to her protectiveness of Amelia. From what Amelia spoke of her Nix was just as headstrong as Amelia was when it came to the protection of her friends. Her demeanor spoke volumes for the amount of love that she had for Amelia, it was endearing to him to see someone care for another so much. Before long he found himself questioning Amelia about Nix more and more as they drove back to his home.

"You like what you see huh?" Amelia jokingly teased him. Eric grunted but didn't admit anything. Was he infatuated with Nix? He couldn't tell, it'd been much too long since he'd felt himself drawn to anyone. "I'm just joking, lighten up!" She patted Eric's arm reassuringly. Over the next few months he had seen Nix few times more. Each time he had to literally stop himself from walking over to her and taking her full lips between his teeth. He often found himself daydreaming about how she would have felt writhing underneath him as they were tangled in the bed sheets.

The night before Amelia gave Nix the amulet she told Eric of her plans, she made him promise not to reveal her whereabouts to Nix and also to give her a little pink envelope the next time he saw her. He knew she was struggling to fight off the constant pull of the darkness so he didn't argue with her. Amelia was a capable witch, if she felt that this was the right thing to do then he had no choice but to abide by her choice. He worried for Nix though. He worried how she would react to the disappearance of her lifelong friend. Surprisingly instead of wallowing in her sadness Nix began working, selling her services to those who could afford to hire her.

Intrigued by her enthusiasm Eric began keeping tabs on her, checking out her employers and their history. To his satisfaction he found that she mainly worked for humans, and she never took jobs from people with shady reputations. It wasn't until he tracked down Nix's recent employer that he began to worry. Jonathan Claut lived in his neighborhood but Eric never had any recollection of the man or his supposed wife and child. When he walked the premises of the Claut estate he noticed how the house was always dark, curtains always drawn. Of course Eric was only out after dark, but even so, shouldn't there have been some sign of activity? After all the man claimed to have a daughter who had gone missing and a wife that was frantic with worry.

Sensing that something was amiss Eric decided to invest some time into getting to know his 'neighbors'. Slipping on his best suit he made his way over to the Claut residence and knocked. He was greeted by a small Asian woman who looked up at him questioningly. "Hello," he greeted, "is Jonathan Claut in tonight?" The maid simply nodded and led him to a set of large doors.

"Yes?" A voice said from inside the room.

"Visitor," the small woman answered and walked away. When the woman was out of sight he man opened the door.

"Hello," the older man looked at Eric with dimly lit eyes.

"I'm sorry for the interruption Jonathan, and I realize now isn't the perfect time but I was hoping I could introduce myself." He held out his hand, "My name is David I live just down the block," Jonathan took his hand in his own and shook it timidly.

"How do you know my name is Jonathan?" Eric didn't let his slip up show,

"Oh, news travels fast around here," Eric laughed. That's when Jonathan grinned and told Eric to sit down.

"Please David, come in and take a seat," he gestured to one of the seats situated in front of a large desk. Once they were both settled down in their seat the grin on Jonathan's face grew wider. "Cut the bull shit David," his lips were smiling but his eyes were shooting daggers at Eric, "why are you here."

With his cover blown Eric decided to go to plan B. He leaned back in his chair and looked at his fingers as if they were more interesting than the conversation taking place. "I want in on whatever it is you're doing here." He swept his hand about the room and locked eyes with Jonathan. "I know you're not human, and I know you're up to no good." Eric managed to smile his most devious grin, "that child of yours is no child at all is it." Jonathan's face blanched, his mouth open and closed a few times before he found his words again.

"Hmph," Jonathan crossed his arms over his chest, "you're sharp. I could use someone like you." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, musing over his decision. "Of course, how do I know you aren't here to do another's bidding?" Eric scoffed.

"I don't do the bidding of anyone else. I've lived long enough to be tired of this world and the humans. They are beneath us." Eric chuckled, "I would not mind throwing in my lot with yours simply because I am bored and this would give me a great amount of amusement." Eric was bullshitting, he had no idea what Jonathan was, but from his reaction he knew it wasn't anything good. Suddenly they were interrupted by the doorbell. Someone was here. Jonathan smiled and stood up.

"Ah, finally she is here." Jonathan smiled menacingly, "_she?"_ Eric thought. Who could he be expecting? Eric heard the faint sound of heels clicking in the hallway, when the scent hit him he immediately stilled. It was Nix. Then suddenly it all came together. Nix was hired under the pretenses to retrieve Jonathan's kidnapped daughter, but when in reality he was simply luring her into the lair of the darkness so he could use her. When the door opened Eric struggled to stay calm and keep still but when he saw Nix he was stunned. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun and her glasses framed her face perfectly, accentuating the contours of her cheek bones and the color of her eyes. Instead of glowing a stormy blue as they did in the dark, they were a light brown. The intensity of her eyes had always captured Eric's attention, and tonight was no exception. He hadn't been aware that they were both staring at each other for long until Jonathan cleared his voice. As they made their greetings Eric reclined in his chair, if Jonathan had called Nix here tonight, then that must have meant he had plans for her. What he planned to do he had no idea, but he was going to try his damndest to prevent it. While he was lost in thought Jonathan had invited Nix to take the seat next to Eric, secretly Eric was straining to keep himself in check, why did she smell so good?

"I get injured a lot; my home is set up for those types of emergencies. Can barely feel the little bugger now." Nix was laughing awkwardly and Eric's eyes were on her, studying her. He wasn't aware of the injuries that Nix had sustained, even though logically it made sense considering her work, but still. Something about hearing about her getting injured on the job didn't appeal to Eric. He was fuming beside her, angry at himself that he had allowed this to continue for so long, angry because Nix was putting her life on the line each time she went to work. Suddenly Jonathan was on his knees begging Nix for her help, playing it off as if he had invited Eric to this meeting also.

He was spouting words from the prophecy when suddenly Nix turned to Eric. He felt he had to say something, so he played along. His words were meant to discourage Nix from helping the besought man but if anything they encouraged her to sugar coat his words. Agitated, Eric was about to repeat what he said when the look Nix shot him told him otherwise. He wasn't easily intimidated, but Nix shot him that look he kept silent. Jonathan kept rambling, but when his eyes shifted from their dark blue to a dull grey color Eric could tell that they were no longer speaking to Jonathan but a shell of the dark presence that surrounded the property.

Nix was trying to comfort the man; Eric wanted to get her away from it and away from the danger so he decided to confront the source. He knew the bedrooms were located on the third floor, so when he found the door labeled childishly with the name "Sydney" sprawled across it, he banged on the door. He could tell Nix was confused but offered no explanation, he would show her. The monster played a child well, presenting itself as weak, so much so that Nix had believed it and put herself in between Eric and the child. He wished now that he had taken the time to explain to Nix their situation instead of acting so hastily, but it was too late.

After struggling with Nix for a few seconds, Eric thought he finally had her pinned under his weight. She was so small underneath this large body, if they were under any different circumstances he knew what he would have done next. He would have taken her in his arms and made love to her the way he always dreamed, he pushed the thought away before it could distract him from the wiggling form underneath him.

Nix was a spirited fighter, but she was useless pinned underneath him. Silently he thanked the supernatural strength that came with the curse of being a nightwalker, when suddenly Nix went utterly still. Worried that he had used too much strength and caused her to pass out he shifted his weight and then he felt something pressing on the threads of his mind. Nix wasn't the one pinned underneath him anymore, now it was a familiar red head, Amelia. She was giving him a stubborn look, the look she always gave him when he did something she didn't approve of, with a flash her appearance vanished and his mind was blank. Alarmed because of the sudden change of events Eric became disoriented but right as he became aware of his surroundings, Nix used all her strength and pushed him off of her, throwing him crashing into the wall.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Eric was positive that the impact from his body slamming into the wall broke a few ribs but he couldn't let Nix get away. It would take him a few minutes to heal the bone fractures but maybe he could get to Nix in time to separate her from Sydney. He could only hope.

That small glimmer of hope was dashed away in a heartbeat. He could tell as he got closer to Nix that she was moving herself towards the window behind them. _"She wouldn't jump out would she?_" He hadn't known Nix to be very impulsive, but he wouldn't put it past her. Right now she thought Eric was the bad guy, and she felt cornered. All too suddenly a wave of panic flashed flooded Eric's system. She was going to fling herself out of the window while carrying the child. He wouldn't allow her to throw her life away for something so undeserving of it. He walked with a bit more aggressiveness which only proved to startle Nix more, just as he was about to grip her arm she fell from his grasp.

He heard the window crash and watched as Nix fell from the third story window. _"NO!"_He rushed to the window, preparing to jump but hesitant watch Nix fall to her death. Nix was holding the child for dear life as she fell out the window, the smell of her blood bombarded his senses and he almost fell to his knees from the sheer power of it all but then he heard a scream so painful that it lulled him out of his stupor. _More blood_, Eric perched himself on the windowsill looking down at the body of Nix. The child was still in her arms and she was moving, _thank god_, he thought.

As he prepared himself for the jump he noticed Nix cough up a tremendous amount of blood and get to her feet. His sharp vision allowed him to see the large shards of glass that had impaled Nix. No doubt the pain had been stifling, but instead of slumping in pain, Nix began running, in a flash she was halfway across the lawn, trying to make it to her car. "NIX STOP!" He screamed for all he was worth, worried that the strain would cause her wounds to bleed even more. His soul wept seeing her so badly torn, but the darker side of him knew that she would put up a chase even though she was grievously wounded, and that side would enjoy the hunt. He hated this darker side of himself, the side that gained pleasure from seeing the tortured and the weak, the side that longed to lick up the steady streams of blood that had found their way out of the gashes on Nix's back. The sound of cackling and his desire to keep Nix safe prevailed over the darker side of him that longed to be released. There was no time to fume about how much he resented his nature; Nix was in desperate need of help.

Eric was stunned. She was faster than he had anticipated even after all her blood loss, by the time had caught up with her she was already in her car and getting it started. He had no time to lose; he needed to get Nix out of the car and away from the monster. Yanking her car door open and preparing to pull her out, he saw the monster begin to take form and crawl behind Nix. _"Now or never"_ the thought quickly raced through his head and then he felt his whole chest imploding with pain. The pain was so immense that he'd only managed to catch a second of the high-pitched screaming that came from the car as he lost himself to complete and utter darkness.

It was soothing, he hadn't remembered being so comfortable, there was silence and everything was peaceful. There were no wars, no crimes of hatred, just pure silence. He let himself revel in the feeling before all his unease settled back in again. He felt compelled to do something, _"do what?_" he wondered. "David!" he could hear someone calling a name, they sounded worried, almost apologetic. The voice was tender and sweet, it reminded him of the days he spent basking in the love of his wife…it had been so long… what was her name? He couldn't remember… who was calling for him?

In what felt like seconds for Eric, minutes had passed by. Slowly he began to recognize the voice that had been shouting earlier. "_Nix?_" The was hideous beast from earlier that night was in front of her, its claws embedded deep in her shoulder. She gave a heavy shudder before she managed to get the damned things out and then Eric saw her limp over the monsters body. Just before her body hit the cold pavement Eric lunged to catch her.

When her body fell into his arms Eric felt instant relief, but upon looking at her broken and beaten body he let out a groan of agony. Her body was cold and limp, the usual pink tint to her cheeks was left dull and colorless. His eyes quickly scanned her body for the heavy injuries; if they were still bleeding he needed to seal them before she lost any more blood.

It was easy to check her body for bruises, most of her clothes had been torn in the fray. Her once white blouse was torn and falling from her chest, if she wasn't so hurt he would have taken the time to appreciate his bounty, but seeing as how her chest was rising and falling much too slowly for her to be out of danger he quickly flipped the woman over so he could look at the deep gashes on her back.

As he suspected, they were already healing, but because she had been losing so much blood, her body wasn't able to replenish their blood supply fast enough to heal the cuts efficiently. The gashes didn't look nearly as deep and they weren't bleeding profusely but the wound was bruising and some of the flesh was pulled away to reveal even more tiny shards of glass that had been embedded in her skin. He didn't want the shards to get healed into her flesh so he let the gashes be, even though it pained him to leave them untended.

He checked her torso once more, healing some of the wounds that were still trickling blood with his own. He was tempted to lick his fingers afterwards but he knew that he might easily lose himself and jeopardize Nix's already delicate condition. He fought the urge and instead moved his arms down her legs; the grey slacks were torn all over, revealing small pockets of her skin underneath. Luckily there were no cuts, but he could see a large bruise forming on her left thigh and her knee was swollen, most likely broken. There was nothing he could do at this instant that would mend her broken bones; he would need to wait for her to regain consciousness to feed her some of his own blood.

Ignoring the tightness in his own chest he stood up with Nix in his arms. The blasted girl had kicked him so hard that he was still healing after who knew how long he'd been passed out like a fool while she'd been off fighting a monster on her own. He'd clean up after the skirmish in the neighborhood after he dropped Nix off to rest in one of his rooms, he wanted her to wake up comfortable, well, at least a little comfortable.

Eager to get a few last kicks in before he disposed of the monster and to get back to caring for Nix, he ran back to the site of the battle, only when he got there, there was no 'battle' to clean up after. The monster's body was gone and so was the eerily dark presence in the neighborhood. There were only a few shards of glass on the ground, possibly from Nix, and a broken window at the Claut residence which could easily be boarded up and replaced. The evidence could conveniently pass as an attempted break in, but Nix's car would seem suspicious.

Walking over to her car he noticed the large blotch of blood on the driver's seat. She'd lost so much blood and yet she was still capable of destroying a monster singlehandedly. He found himself filled with pride. Luckily her keys were still in the ignition so all he had to do was start the car and park it in his garage. He hadn't seen any news reporters or police cars yet so Eric thought it would be safe to assume that their little mishap had gone unnoticed. After all even if someone did report what went on who would believe them? If trouble did come to find him later, he could easily glamour the human to forget such incidences, so he didn't bother visiting each house on the block tonight. Now he just wanted to make sure Nix was recovering properly, after all sunrise was a couple hours away, what better use of his time?

Her breathing was a little stronger, but every now and then she would wince in pain when he removed her clothing, the blood had dried and caused it to stick to her wounds. She was filthy and covered with blood; getting a rag and bowls from the kitchen he hesitantly cleaned her wounds. Each time new droplets of blood would form and ooze from her injuries Eric's fangs would jut out. Straining to control the impulse to lap at the small beads that had drizzled down the surface of her skin he concentrated on cleaning her wounds and removing all the imperfections embedded in her wounds.

First on the list was the wound on her back, part of it had already healed over some of the shards that had lodged themselves in the wound. As much as it pained him to do so, he knew he had to slice into her skin again and remove the shards of glass, if not they would only prove to be a painful irritant to her in the future. Eric took a small knife and sterilized it before he cut into her wound, not wanting to be the cause for infection. As the knife made contact with her skin fresh blood began to steadily pool at the crevice of her back, Nix was whimpering slightly. It was so tempting to just bend down and run his tongue along the outside of her wounds, but he knew better.

Carefully dabbing at the blood with a clean towel in one hand he took the tweezers in the other. One by one he plucked the shards out of her wound, his sharp eyesight allowed him to find the pieces with precision. When he was positive that the wound was cleaned of all shards he cut his thumb on the tip of one of his fangs and ran it along the edge of her wound.

Slowly the flesh began to meld together, although the wound wasn't completely healed, it was healed enough to the point that it shouldn't have bothered Nix too much should she awake. Rolling her over to rest on her back he finally took a good look at her face. Shockingly she was still wearing her glasses; but as expected, they hadn't escaped the battle unscathed. Curious, he wondered how she had managed to keep a hold of her glasses during the fight, but the reason completely escaped him. As she slipped the glasses off her face he was reacquainted to the fine details of her face. Although her face was slightly bruised and they weren't back to their natural rosy color, he still found her beautiful. He was sure if he was still breathing he would have been left breathless. Her lips were full and still looked kissable, had he not been in full control of his emotions he might have experimented to see just how full her lips were with some of his own testing.

Brushing a free strand of hair from her face Eric left to soak the bloodied rags and get a change of clothes. His chest had been bothering him ever since he regained consciousness and he was amused to find that his chest was slightly depressed into the shape of someone's foot. Chuckling he pulled a black shirt over his head and went back upstairs to watch over Nix's condition.


	9. Chapter 9

_Phew I'm glad some of you like the story so far! I was nervous about posting it but now I'm having fun. *evil cackle* This chapter is longer than the other one's I've written and I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you guys enjoy it!_

**Chapter 9**

_Oh god these sheets are soft,_ Nix rolled herself into a ball and pulled the blankets all around her, cuddling into the comforter that faintly smelled of Eric. Inhaling the scent she unknowingly smiled to herself and then groaned loudly once she'd realized what she'd been doing. "Get a hold of yourself!" she burst out of her sheets in a huff and then slapped her cheeks hard enough to snap her out of her sleepy daze. "You will not, I repeat, WILL NOT, think about Eric as anything more than a friend!" She pointed down at her light blue blankets and glared, pretending she was staring down at her own reflection. "But he's so good looking…and dreamy…and…" the words of protest had slipped out of her mouth and she immediately clasped her hand around her mouth to prevent any further protests. Taking deep breaths though her nostrils she uncovered her mouth. "Okay, I'll agree, he's like a walking porno," she thought about his bare chest and drool began to pool at the corner of her lips. "He's more than walking porno…" her alternate ego challenged. Rolling her eyes Nix stood up, her bladder was screaming at her so she continued her inner debate as she walked to the bathroom.

"Walking porno and that's it." She chastised herself as she went to the sink to wash her hands. "Why? Amelia wasn't married to him and she obviously gave you her blessing!" This time in front of the mirror she gave herself a good long look, "stop arguing with me! I've got a busy day; I don't have time to—oh my god." She was mortified with what she saw, "Where the fuck are my clothes!"

Nix suffered through the same range emotions that any female would have endured once they realized they had spent the previous night talking to a man who they had deemed as walking porno. First she buried her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment, screamed a little bit, then she blushed, called herself an idiot, and then she got pissed off. Not at herself of course, the cause of her 'pissed off' state was due to the fact that Eric had failed to mention her state of undress while they had their conversation. "Oh good to see you up Nix! By the way you're naked! No, no it's only common courtesy that I notify you on your current clothing situation!" She mocked his voice and stomped back into her bedroom relieving some of her aggravation on the bed she had spent the night in.

Fixing the sheets and blankets allowed her to mull over all the different ways she'd have liked to torture Eric. "First I'll lace his boxers with silver thread," grinning to herself she tucked in the sheets, "and then I'll…I'LL…" She began cackling manically as the thoughts drifted through her mind. The only thing that drew her out of her current state of mind was the fact that she smelled. Her senses were getting sharper each day and the fact that she had taken some of Eric's blood the night before only enhanced them further. Running her fingers through her hair she brushed through the tangles and stepped into the shower, letting the water run hot until she couldn't take any more.

The steam felt wonderful and as she lathered up her hands and ran them over her body, where she expected scars she found none, only smooth skin, instantly a thread of worry she hadn't realized she'd been harboring was released. She'd be lying if she said she didn't mind scars when in fact every scar on her body made her self-conscious. The memories that were laced with each of her scars were painful ones she'd wished she didn't have the pleasure of remembering, memories of times she wished she didn't have to endure. Shaking her head and continuing to wash herself she realized that last night she had been extremely injured, Eric had probably cleaned her wounds and left her naked so she could heal properly. A slight blush ran up her neck and into her face when she thought of his hands running over her torso, sure she was still pissed, but in the recesses of her mind she was celebrating the fact that someone of Eric's caliber had put their hands on her body. That wasn't whorish was it?

After washing her hair two times and conditioning it, she checked her arm pits for smells once more. For once she was glad she had suffered through the pain that is waxing because her underarms were still smooth as a baby's butt with not a single trace of stubble. Confident that the nauseating smells were long since washed away she dried herself and began searching the bathroom for the so called clothes Eric had left her. The clothes were folded neatly and placed in a corner of the bathroom perched on top of a small makeup stand. Taking the clothes into her hand she noted how the makeup seemed to belong to the same brand that Amelia shopped for. Looking at the shades of lipstick and the subtle earthy colors that layered the makeup stand Nix realized that they must have been Amelia's. She recognized the hideous dark purple lipstick that Amelia had bought, "It's for Halloween!" she argued. Nix chuckled and turned away to dress herself, impressing upon herself to remember to get her amulet when she returned home and to contact Max.

Wondering how long it would be until sunset Nix began searching the house for a clock since the sun was still shining brightly outside. She got the idea in her head that somehow her footsteps would wake Eric from his slumber, so she tiptoed around the house 007 style. Ignoring rooms that had their doors closed she walked down the hallway and made her way down the two flights of stairs, taking careful note of how beautiful the furnishing of the house were. The cream colored carpet felt warm and fluffy under her toes and they matched the dark hardwood floor of the foyer which led into what she could see as the living room and the kitchen.

Everything in the house was so 'Eric'. One look at the living room spoke volumes for Eric. The furniture looked comfortable and classy at the same time, Nix was tempted to plop herself down in one of the living room chairs but refrained against her impulses to do so. The walls were lined with book shelves which were completely filled with books written in a wide array of languages. She took one of the books and flipped through it, the words looked foreign to her but she smiled. There was much she didn't know about Eric but it seemed that he liked to read; at least they had that much in common. Putting the book back where she found it she continued on her hunt for a clock, to her dismay she couldn't find one. Combing her hair back with her fingers she pulled her hair into a pony tail that sat high on her head and made her way to the kitchen.

She was hopeful as she walked to the kitchen, after all kitchens nowadays had built in microwaves and they always had the time programmed right into them. The kitchen was small. It had all the necessities of a functioning kitchen but it lacked any decoration that made the kitchen warm and comforting. The cabinets were a shade lighter than the brown of the hardwood floors, the color of light chocolate, and they had stainless steel handles. The refrigerator was large and silver, Nix was getting hungry so she decided to take a quick peek after she looked at the time. The microwave was simple, nothing extraordinarily fancy, and it was hanging over the kitchen stove. The current time read four thirty-eight p.m. Sunset these days was in between six and seven so that meant she had a good hour and a half before Eric would wake up. She sighed and trudged back to the fridge opening it to look for food.

There was a container of food with a note on top. It read, _thought you'd be hungry when you woke, help yourself. –Eric_. With her keener sense of smell she noticed that it smelled like Chinese food. Her mouth watered at the prospect of getting some food in her system, so she took the container and put it in the microwave and carefully folded Eric's note and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans. The two minutes it took for the food to eat up to the temperature she liked felt like an eternity to Nix. By now her stomach as growling loudly enough that she was sure if Eric had roommates they would have been awoken by the odd sounds. Nix devoured the food in record time, eating every single bite and then downing two glasses of water. With her hunger satisfied she cleaned up her mess and began looking around for a phone. She wasn't comfortable using things without permission but she needed to call Max and make sure he was fine. After a bit of prying here and there Nix located the phone in what appeared to be Eric's work room. There were papers strewn everywhere over a desk, no doubt information about his business ventures, and a computer that had sticky notes plastered all over the screen. Taking the cordless phone in hand she jotted out of the room and relaxed herself into the comforts of one of the sofas in the living room.

She wasn't waiting long until a female voice answered the phone. "Hello?" the female's voice sounded hoarse and strained with worry.

"Melissa?"

"NIX?" she shouted into the phone so loudly that Nix had to pull the phone away from her head a good two inches before the screaming wasn't a pain on her ear drums.

"Yeah it's me, you sound worried, what's wrong?" Nix was no longer relaxing into the sofa, she was sitting up now with her elbows perched on her knees and her eyes wide open as if suddenly anything could jump out and attack her.

"Oh God Nix, have you heard from Max? He didn't come home last night and he told me he was going to meet with you after you gave him that phone call-" if Nix wasn't already paying attention that would have been the icing on the cake.

"Wait, wait, wait. What phone call?"

"You called him last night, said it was an emergency and that he had to meet you, oh god Nix! That wasn't you was it!" Melissa was sobbing again, Nix wanted to reach through the phone and offer her support but seeing as how she was unable to do so she was completely helpless. The most useful thing she could do at this point was to gather as much information about last night as she could and hopefully piece together the puzzle.

"No it wasn't me that called last night Melissa," Nix took a deep breath to steady her nerves, "I know this is a really difficult situation for you but I promise I will find him and bring him back to you. For now I need all the details, don't skip anything. Do you understand?" There was a silence and then Melissa's voice broke through the silence with her understanding. "Good, ok, now start at the beginning." There wasn't a notebook or pen in sight and she want to rummage through Eric's office to find them so she prayed that her memory would be enough to remember the details.

Melissa began speaking at a two hundred words a second, Nix had to ask her several times to slow down so she could understand her, and the whole thing just made Nix's insides churn. They had been eating dinner when all of the sudden they got a call. Melissa could tell something was wrong because Max didn't finish his dinner and just said Nix was in an emergency and he had to leave.

"I asked him where he was going and he wouldn't tell me!" Nix heard the tremors in her voice as she spoke again. "I asked him again and blocked the door so he couldn't leave without telling me. He scared me, his eyes were so dark…" her words trailed off as if she was reliving the event.

"What happened next Melissa?" Nix urged the woman on.

"He told me he was headed to your house, said you forgot something and it was an emergency. I wanted to stop him but I was so scared! He wasn't the Max I knew, he was different, it was almost as if something had taken the life right out of his eyes and replaced it with something dark. You have to get him back for me please! I don't know what I'll do without him, I'm so lost and I'm worried every second he's gone!" Melissa began rambling incessantly, after gathering all the information she could from her Nix told Melissa to get some rest and that she'd call with any news.

Nix had no doubts in her mind that somehow Max was procured to search her property, possibly for the amulet Amelia had gotten for her. Whether or not Max was a willing participant in all of this was something she was unsure of, but regardless of the facts, Melissa wanted him home safe and sound, and that's what Nix would try to do. Taking the slight chance that Max was actually at her home she dialed her home phone number.

It rang a couple times before her answering machine would chime in. Hanging up before the beep went off she redialed her number several times. "Third time's a charm," she whispered to herself as she dialed one more time. This time instead of being greeted by her all too cheery voice she was welcomed with a faint click on the other end of the line. Someone was in her house. She dialed one more time but the line went dead. Her heart was beating wildly inside her chest, worried that Max had gotten into trouble and was being held against his will or something entirely worse was happening right beneath her nose she got up and began pacing. Max had known about the amulet but she'd never told him where she'd hidden it. That brought her some small measure of relief, though she still felt pressured to return home and secure the amulet herself. Dashing to the kitchen she noted that the time was now five fifty-two. The sun had set a bit but it was still clearly hanging over the horizon. If she thought she wanted to see Eric earlier then by now her desire had increased by tenfold.

Nix was worried and she needed to get home, but something about leaving Eric without getting the chance to say goodbye unsettled something in her bones. Plus something about being next to Eric soothed her and anything that could help her think through this situation rationally was probably a good idea. Vampires can't be out in the sunlight so that eliminated her choices of the first floor and second floor and only left her choices of a basement of some sort. Eric didn't seem to be the type that lived in terrible clichés so she decided against searching for any trap doors or rotating book cases. She ran down the hallways looking for staircases that she might have missed, after running around like a chicken with her head cut off she decided to use her nose. Literally.

Stopping in her tracks she tried to recall Eric's scent, the way his aroma wrapped around his form and elicited images of warm evenings by a camp fire. She was also searching for that clearly unique scent that belonged to Eric. Sniffing around corners like a dog she recognized his scent and followed the trail and was led to a door that had been shut. Opening the door she was amazed at the sight of a spiraling staircase that led straight down into a dark room, closing the door behind her she descended the stairs and flipped on the light switch. There was no mistaking it, as she made her descent down the stairs Eric's scent became more pronounced and no longer was her heart beating for the sake of worry, but for the anticipation of seeing him again. The room was fitted with even more bookshelves, couches, and even a large flat screen TV. To her amusement sitting in the corner of the room was a small bowl with a beta fish in it, in front was a note card that read, _I named it Eric after you. Don't kill it this time. ~Pam._ Pam could have been Eric's girlfriend for all she knew, but for some reason the gesture seemed friendlier than anything.

The room led to two hallways opposite of one another, with Eric's scent being so prevalent in the room it was difficult for Nix to distinguish between places Eric had been and the place of his resting. Some scents smelled fresher or more strongly of Eric so she decided to trust her instincts and followed those trails first. The first took her down the hallway to her left. There was an open room that had a pool table and a small bar, his game room she deduced. Two more rooms showed themselves to be a conference room and his second office which had his clothes strewn all about. Not wanting to venture any further than she already had she closed the doors and made her way down the opposite hall.

There were three doors on each side of the hallway, most of them lacked any smell of Eric, which explained why she didn't smell him as strongly in this section, but she also noticed that they were probably guest bedrooms for vampires. Following the faint smell of Eric she ended up at another door. Instantly her heart rate picked up and her palms began to perspire and dampen with her nervousness. The thought of entering Eric's resting room made her blood heat with lust, but she also wondered who else had been lucky enough to journey this far into his home. Pushing the thoughts of sex away from her mind she clasped the door handle and pulled down. There was a small click but the door didn't open, the door was unexpectedly heavy for its appearance. Even with her body weight aiding her attempts to open the door it still wouldn't budge.

Deciding that this was a matter better left to the demonic aspect of her nature she braced herself against the door and began pushing while one of her hands pulled down the door handle. Inch by inch the door began to move, by the time she was able to slip inside the room with the allotted space the door had slammed shut behind her. She was completely immersed in the darkness of the room but she was comforted knowing that she was in fact in Eric's room.

Nix's eyesight wasn't completely up to demonic standards so she was still having trouble seeing in the darkness and accompanied by the fact that she had opted to leave her glasses off she was basically blind. Squinting her eyes to let them adjust to the darkness she was able to make out some darker shapes, most obvious was the enormous bed in front of her. Holding both her arms out in front of her and moving slowly and carefully around the bed she was able to catch herself a couple times before she tripped and landed face first into whatever she was facing. When her foot hit the corner of something hard she yelped and then immediately stubbed her knee on the nightstand she had stubbed her toe on.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" she yelled as she fell over holding her knee to her chest and wrapping one of her fingers around her aching toes. She sucked in a breath and held it until the pain subsided enough for her to get her bearings. Getting back up to her feet she found the edge of the bed and used it to guide her hands to Eric. She assumed she was at the head of the bed but when her arms were completely outstretched before her feeling around for Eric they found nothing but empty sheets. Grunting she hauled herself onto the bed, cursing the height of the bed frame as she went up. Once she was on his bed she started getting annoyed, "Eric?" she was yelling as she whispered. "ERIC?" she repeated with a bit more bite than necessary. Aggravated and needing to go places she flung herself all around the bed, hoping one of her flailing limbs would strike gold. After thirty seconds of flailing her hand struck something hard as it made an audible slapping sound. "FINALLY!" She dragged herself over to the sleeping form and straddled it so she should have easier access to Eric. She strained to fit his broad shoulders into her small hands but once she had a strong grip she shook him back and forth like a rag doll all the while screaming into his ears hoping he'd wake up.

She'd known that he had showered before going to bed because the smell of his shampoo was invading her senses as she shook him rabidly. As time went on she forgot what she wanted to do and instead allowed her hands to begin exploring the expanse of his chest, which was shirtless to her enjoyment. Giggling and giddy with the excitement of doing something so promiscuous she let her head drift down to lay next to his as she began whispering in his ear. The whispering certainly roused him because she could feel his hardness underneath her. She was tempted to rub herself over the growing bulge but she thought it would be crossing the boarders of 'creepy ville' into 'rape-ville' that and she wasn't so far gone as to have lost all her sensibility, yet.

Forcing herself to slide off his body Nix decided to lie beside him and continue whispering into his ear. "Eric if you don't wake up I'm going to have to torture you," she said ominously. No response. Huffing she began to try her old tactics of shaking and screaming in his ear but he was still giving her no sign of waking. "Is sex the only way I'm going to wake you up?" She pounded on his chest and ignored her own throbbing at the center of her core. "I'm not having sex with you," she warned, "but you've left me no choice."

Taking one of her fingers she let it travel down the length of his body. She refused to venture any further than his shorts so when she made her route she repeated it over and over. He roused slightly but the most active part of his body was still his cock. When the teasing wasn't doing anything she decided to mix pain with what she hoped he considered pleasure. She began pinching his nipples and nibbling on his ears, chewing her way up and down his neck. "Mmmn," a throaty voice groaned. _SUCCESS!_

With a little more frenzy than before she began to drag her fingers down his chest, twisting his nipples and tugging a bit at his ears. "What are you doing," Eric's voice was gravely and still sounded sluggish so Nix continued her escapades. With a bit more clarity Eric repeated his question, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to wake you up you big oaf, you sleep like the dead." Suddenly her fingers weren't making their way up and down his chest anymore, they were now locked behind her back and Eric was rolling on top of her. He growled as he bent his head down to her neck as he began to return the favor. "Eric," she protested, she began to struggle but to no avail. Demons were strong but versus a horny vampire and locked in this position she was basically powerless against him.

"You like playing with fire?" He questioned her as he bit down on the sensitive part of her neck, leaving goose bumps in his wake. Nix struggled for the right words as Eric began to tease her already taught nipples through her silk shirt, when she felt his cock pressed up against her she nearly whimpered. "Hmmm?" he pressured her for an answer as he kept nibbling his way down her neck.

Nix struggled against herself, she wanted to keep going, to explore the depths of their sexuality with one another, to kiss her way up his chest and then take his lips into her own, but she knew she couldn't. Grasping onto that thin line of responsibility that she still had she spoke. "Maybe I like to prod the fire," she searched Eric's face but was instead met with the top of his head as he bent down to take one of her nipples into his mouth. "But!" She moaned loudly when his teeth clamped down on her sensitive nerves, "we've gotta go." She was breathless by the time Eric had made his way back up to her face to look her in the eyes. He cocked a questioning eyebrow at her but she kept her eyes steady. "I need to go home, trouble's brewin'."

"What kind of trouble?" He asked his voice firm and steady.

"The kind of trouble that screams 'oh shit'," Eric wanted more details because he held her arms a little tighter behind her back. "My partner, Max, he's gone missing and I think he's at my house looking for the amulet Amelia sealed herself in." If there was any question as to whether or not Eric was going to believe her or not the sudden release of her arms gave her all the answers she needed. With a huff of hair Eric disappeared from her side. _Fuck, did I piss him off?_ Taking her chances Nix called out, "Eric?" when there was no answer she threw herself out of the bed and landed on her feet. She didn't know where he was but if she walked around and called out to him he was sure to answer her or make some sort of noise, right?

Nix heard a rustle in the corner of the room and strove towards it, only to walk into a wall, not Eric's lovely chest, but an actual wall. "Ow! Fuck!" She began rubbing her nose to quell the pain when suddenly the room was filled with light. The quick transition between light and dark stunned her eyes and caused her to recoil from the light source. When she was able to open her eyes without any pain she was met with Eric's gorgeous smile as he threw on a shirt.

"Can't see too well in the dark can you?" he asked with the teasing grin.

"Haw-haw make fun of the weakling while you can you big bully. When I fully mature I'm gonna make you regret it." Nix rolled her eyes playfully and took a look around the room. She couldn't help but laugh out loud as she took in the state the room was in. His bedroom was just like his office, clothes everywhere, jeans were thrown over his bed post and shirts were tossed on the ground. "Where's your laundry hamper?" she found herself asking the thousand year old nightwalker, who had room habits like a teenager.

"Laundry hamper? Oh yes, that thing. Got rid of it." The sudden popping of Nix's eyes from her head caused Eric to roar with laughter, "just a joke," he laughed even more. Sliding open a closet next to him, Eric pulled out an empty laundry hamper. "Ta-da," he showcased the item as if it was one of the big prizes of The Price Is Right game show. She could imagine Bob Barker standing next to Eric and congratulating him on his fine prize, she couldn't hold it in anymore so she snorted and howled with laughter.

When she stopped laughing she noticed that Eric had dropped the shorts he was wearing and he was now bearing his ass to her as he pulled on a pair of jeans. Covering her face and just barely opening her fingers to allow her eyes to secretly roam over his chiseled ass she kept silent. Seeing his ass bare of any underwear reminded her of the ideas she had in the morning. _Guess I can't line his underwear with silver thread_; she mentally sighed at the idea and then recalled her anger. Coughing to get his attention, Eric turned around pulled up his zipper. "Uhm," there was no easy way to say this so she decided to just blurt it out, "whydidn'tyoutellmeIwasnakedlastnight?"

Eric took a few seconds to decipher her message and then he flashed a devilish grin and sauntered over to her. He folded back a lose strand of her hair just as he did the night before and looked in her eyes. "I left you naked because I didn't want you to wake up in that filth." It was Nix's turn to raise an eyebrow because she was lost. "Your clothes were shredded and you were bleeding all over. So I cleaned your wounds," she nodded and blushed, "and left you naked so your wounds could heal."

"And leaving me naked when we were talking to each other last night?" she questioned him.

"I just liked seeing your titties flopping around while you talked." And he shrugged.

"Oh," Nix said in understanding.

"Oh," Eric mocked her with childish wonderment and walked past her to the door. "Shall we get going now?"

"Uh yeah," Nix jogged past him glad that they hadn't dwelled much on her previous antics and that her issue of never being notified that she was naked while conversing with him last night was all due to the fact that he liked watching floppy titties. _Great, I'm just one big fuckin' joke to him. Fan-fucking-tastic._ She didn't know why it pissed her off so badly but it did. She didn't want to be seen as a child or weak in any manner, but his attitude just seemed to belittle her at every turn. It saddened her and annoyed her a great deal that he wasn't nearly as perplexed about her nakedness as she was about his."Fucking vampires," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that," Eric said from behind her. Nix shot him the middle finger and raced up the staircase, which only earned her another hearty chuckle.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry it's been a while since I updated! I've been busy with school so I haven't had much time to write. If you guys find any inconsistencies in the story message me and I'll try to fix it as best I can. Enjoy reading and reviews are always helpful!_

**Chapter 10**

"Eric," Nix paused at the top of the staircase and turned around to look down at him.

"What's wrong?" he immediately tensed at the gravity of her tone.

"…I don't have any shoes to wear." Eric smiled up at her and maneuvered around her to get the door open, noting the darkness of the house.

"I have shoes," and he urged Nix to keep going.

"No offence Eric, but your feet are kinda huge." She stuck up one of her feet and put it in his face so he could see them, "See? Tiny!" Eric pulled on one of her toes which earned him another kick in his chest and laughed.

"We'll make do. For now we must get going if what you say is true. I'm certain that Amelia's magic is strong enough to keep out those who would seek her for their own gains, but I'm not sure what will happen if they destroy the amulet." It hadn't even occurred to Nix that the amulet could be destroyed. With renewed determination Nix ordered Eric to grab her a pair of his shoes.

Eric handed Nix a pair of socks as well as his shoes and as she slipped them on Eric did the same. When they were both ready to go Eric held two pairs of car keys in his hand, showing them off. "Your car or mine?" as much as it pained her to do so, she thought of the idea of danger and how her car would most likely be cheaper to replace than one of Eric's so she reluctantly decided to take her car instead of his. Eric led her through a set of doors in the kitchen which led to his garage. Sitting in the garage was her beautiful car, sparkling clean and the spitting image of perfection, that is until she saw the driver's seat.

"I'm lucky to be alive," she said taking a large gulp of air. Eric nodded.

"Let's not dwell on that shall we? I'd like very much to forget about that incident." Nix nodded and added _get car seats cleaned_ to her mental to-do list, right after _save the world_.

The car ride was uneventful and quiet, not uncomfortable, but quiet. Nix was tense and on edge while Eric was the epitome of relaxation with a capital 'R'. Driving up to her house one wouldn't think anything was wrong, but that same lethal air that surrounded Eric's neighborhood was now present in her own. The lights were off and the curtains were drawn, someone had been in her home. Nix didn't want to get caught unable to dodge anything because of Eric's shoes so she left them in the car and jogged to her front door. Eric was one quick step behind her as she unlocked her front door.

Peering in she could see that her living room was a complete mess. The couches were overturned and her TV had been ripped apart. She sucked in a breath as she took in the damage, nothing had been left untouched. Ignoring the mess all around her Nix ran to her bedroom and jumped on her bed.

"Eric, help me real quick," she looked up to the ceiling and Eric nodded. He didn't bother taking off his shoes, which was fine with Nix since her bed was covered with debris anyways. The bed sank with his weight as he picked up Nix by her waist and effortlessly held her higher up so she could reach the ceiling panels. She punched at the panel, pushing it up from its holdings, and once the panel was free she stuck her hand up and felt around for the item she was searching for.

"Got it," she grinned at him. The amulet was safe and sound, its hiding place never discovered. She slipped the chain over her neck and let herself slide down Eric's body, which earned her a taunting gaze in return. "Oh hush," she quieted him.

"I haven't said anything," he argued in his defense.

"You didn't speak but your eyes spoke volumes." Eric jumped off her bed and crossed his arms like a child.

"You started it," Nix couldn't help but stick her tongue out at him despite the disaster around her.

"Maybe so, but I never intended to let it go as far as it did, I was just trying to wake you up. Scouts honor," she crossed her heart and raised her right arm.

"Bullshit." Eric gave her a knowing grin and walked out of the room to inspect the rest of the house.

Now that she knew Amelia was housed within the amulet Nix felt safer with it around her neck. When the cold metal touched her skin she could feel a slight humming resonating from it. It wasn't annoying, it was comforting and it felt like she was being wrapped in a safety blanket. Patting the amulet Nix jumped off the bed and trailed behind Eric.

They searched her house head to toe and found no traces of Max or anything else for that matter. Kicking a piece of broken furniture out of her way Nix cursed when she stubbed her toe again. Then as if on cue she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Eric must have seen it too because in that same instant they were both leaping over obstacles and chasing after the moving shadow. As soon as they had caught up with the moving apparition down the hallway it vanished into thin air, leaving a dark residue on the floor. "As if I didn't have enough shit to clean up," Nix growled out. Eric bent down to inspect the dark substance.

"Nix, look." She huddled down next to Eric and looked down. The dark remnants began to separate; soon letters began to take formation. With fixed eyes they watched with eerie fascination as letters began to form words.

_How about a bargain?_ The matter behaved almost like a Doodle Sketch in the way that when the words almost completely filled the small amount of dark space the words would be wiped away and a new sentence would form. _A life for a life_, the words were wiped away quickly, _A life for an amulet_. Nix looked to Eric but he kept his eyes glued to the magic sprawling beneath them. When it seemed as if the magic had ran its course a voice drifted through the air, carried by a wind that wasn't the result of natural causes.

"_Come now darling, it isn't too hard_," a man's voice loomed in the small hallway. Nix recoiled from her crouching position and sat back against the wall when the voice appeared as if the man was whispering right into her ear. "_You will come find me. You will give me what I want._" As if treading on broken glass Nix picked her next words carefully.

"What is it that you want exactly?" A deep booming laughter filled the house which sent chills down her spine. Soon the hairs on her arms rose as the magical substance on the ground began to swirl around her, oddly enough she felt as if she was being violated. Crushing her limbs to her side and closing her eyes Nix tried desperately to protect any part of her body that was exposed to the sudden chill in the air.

The laughter continued, it echoed throughout her mind and enveloped her body in a coat of ice. She felt as if the warmth was being dragged right out of her body and ice water was being poured through her veins. "_YOU._" The voice screamed in her ears, "_WILL GIVE ME EVERYTHING._" Tears began to form at the edges of her eyes, her throat tightened and she squeezed her head with her hands in an attempt to drown out the voice. She felt a wetness slide down her neck and slide over her collar bone, instinctively she slapped at it hard enough to cause her skin to burn with the impact of the hit. The pain sobered Nix somewhat enough for her to gain some backbone.

Nix spoke through ground teeth and her hands clenched into tight fists, "Answer. The. Question." Nix welcomed the silence but she needed answers. This malevolent force, whatever it was, wanted her amulet or her, or maybe both, she wasn't too sure. With more authority than before Nix demanded an answer. "Are you fucking deaf? We can't bargain very well if I have no fucking idea what you want or where you are." Still being met with nothing but silence Nix opened her eyes only to see Eric crouched in front of her looking at her with worry. Ignoring his silent look of question Nix frantically searched the hallway. Her search was only halted by the two very large and very sudden hands holding her head still. Meeting his eyes Nix gave him a stern look and drew her eyebrows together in frustration, "WHAT?" she growled.

"Who are you talking to?" Confusion soon replaced her frustration as worry drew her eyebrows up.

"What do you mean, 'who are you talking to', I'm talking to whatever that thing was that was talking to me!" Eric smoothed his hand over Nix's forehead and then pressed his own head to hers.

"No sign of a fever…" he murmured to himself.

'_NO SIGN OF A FEVER_?' She replayed the words over in her head a couple times and with renewed furry Nix's anger returned with a vengeance and hit its peak. Slapping away his hands from her face and pushing him backwards so that he landed straight on his ass Nix stood up and walked away. Pissed off and agitated Nix's bare feet hit the floor with loud thumps as she began searching all the rooms in the house for the malevolent being

"Why are you angry?" Eric was following behind her.

Nix didn't stop to look at Eric as she answered his question with another question of her own. "Did you miss that whole exchange just now?" She looked over her shoulder briefly but turned away before Eric could respond to her question.

"I saw you fall against the wall, crawl into the fetal position and hit yourself before you started screaming at the air." Nix stayed silent as she took in Eric's explanation for the ordeal, _damn_, he was really good at making Nix seem psychotic. "My guess is that I'm missing something," Eric said cautiously.

"Ding Ding Ding! Winner-winner chicken dinner!" Still checking the house she held up her hand and rang an imaginary bell. Eric's hands stopped on Nix's shoulders, immediately she was pulled backwards into his body and he held her there, looking down at her expectantly.

"Well, what did I miss?"

"Oh nothing much, I was just talking to a voice that sounded like a mixture of the voices of Chucky and Darth Vader," the description sounded comical however it was anything but. "Then a bunch of crazy magic shit happened, don't ask I don't know how to explain it well enough," Nix tried to move forward and continue her inspection but she was rooted in place, she contemplated stepping on Eric's toes but being in his arms felt way too good to give up.

"What did this 'Chucky/Darth Vader' voice say to you?"

Furrowing her eyebrows together Nix tried to remember, "Something like 'come now darling' and then 'give me what I want' yadda-yadda. Ass hole made a ton of demands but didn't give me shit for details."

"It called you darling?" she couldn't help but feel a little pleased that Eric had seemed more concerned with the word darling than anything else.

"Yeah it called me darling. The creepy thing is…I think it licked me…" Nix tilted her head backwards to stare up at Eric. The first emotion she saw make its way across his face was rage and then utter calmness. '_The calm before the storm_' the word seemed to fit his eerie calmness quite well.

"Anything else?" Eric asked with much too happy grin.

"Nope that's pretty much it. Did I mention the thing sucks at giving details?"

"Yes, I think you did."

"Good. Because it sucked at giving me details," Nix patted Eric's hand and he immediately loosened his hold on her. "I've gotta find Max and I have absolutely nothing to run on." Nix ran her fingers through her hair and re-secured her pony tail. She began flipping over chairs and tables, searching every nook and cranny for clues to Max's whereabouts. She had worked up a sweat by the time Eric spoke again.

"You must care for your partner a great deal," one of Eric's eyebrows shot up as he watched her flip through papers that had been tossed on the floors.

"I do, Max is a great guy. He's got a good work ethic, anything I could ever ask for in a partner." Nix smiled. "And he has a wife who's worried sick waiting for him to call." She chewed her lip, "I can only imagine the pain she's going through right now, and since Max is my employee it's my job to make sure I get him back home safe and sound."

"You're a good boss," Eric said. Then he crouched next to Nix, "What are we searching for?"

Smiling Nix pointed around the room, "Anything that looks out of place. If it stands out it probably isn't mine. If you're unsure of something bring it back to me and I'll take a look-see." After fumbling through papers for thirty minutes and feeling more clueless than ever Nix opted to search her yard for hints to Max's whereabouts.

Once outside Nix took a deep breath, inhaling the deep and earthy scent of a chilled night mingled with the effects of magic. She tried to pick out strands of scents, just like she'd done when she was navigating through Eric's home, only this time there were a lot more smells to sift through. She sniffed for a couple of minutes, trying to pin point Max's scent but found nothing at all. Nix walked the perimeter of the house and even jogged down the block trying to pick out smells and still nothing. Feeling dejected Nix walked back inside and slipped off her filthy socks.

"Hey Nix," Eric held up a couple fingers and called her over. Eric held up a Christmas card she'd received from Max and Melissa. The cover was painted white with the simple drawing of a Christmas tree in the center. '_Christmas '01_' Nix recalled that it wasn't a very pleasant Christmas; she had spent the week with her parents. It was the first time she'd seen them in years and it was also the last time she'd seen them. Harsh words were traded over dinner and in the end Nix was the one who walked away, like always.

"What's up with the card?" she asked, sealing away the dark thoughts of her parents.

"Did you write this?" Eric held the card up to her.

Nix quickly scanned the card, reading over the "Wishing you a happy holiday" greeting. Just a bit below where Max and Melissa had signed their signatures was a messy sprawling of words. '_The maiden starves for knowledge but she shall never know it. Embrace the dream for it will unshackle and release the mind. ~ The huntsman waits for the awakening.'_ She ran the sentences over and over again in her head trying to make sense of them.

"Do they make sense to you?"

Nix shook her head, "No, but that definitely wasn't on the card before and that most certainly isn't my handwriting." She flipped the card over, checking the front and back for any hidden clues. "But, I think it's safe to assume that the so called 'maiden' is supposed to be me," she shrugged. "Empty words," she sighed, "probably nothing to be worried about. Keep looking."

Eric wasn't as convinced. _No,_ there had to be a deeper meaning. "This thing has a perverted interest in you Nix," he cautioned, "You can't just ignore something like this, even if it makes no sense."

"Look," Nix said exasperated, "all I know is that it wants my amulet and it wants me. I don't know why but it does. But I can't really worry about things like that when my friend is missing."

"Nix, I don't think your associate was ever here." Eric spread his arm to encompass the entirety of the house, "If he had been here we would have picked something up already. All we've found is this message on that card. There's a reason why it sent you here tonight Nix and from the signs it has no intentions of giving up your partner so easily. It's taunting you right now, poking at you to find your weaknesses."

Her bottom lip trembled, it was a suspicion she'd had all night but she'd been stubborn and refused to believe it until now. She wouldn't find Max tonight, she didn't know if she'd ever find Max, and that fear ate at her. "What do I do Eric?" Nix asked in a hopeless whisper.


	11. Chapter 11

_I finally had time to do some extra writing today so you guys get two chapters today! Enjoy! And as always I love me some reviews. *evil cackle*_

_"What do I do Eric?" Nix asked in a hopeless whisper._

**Chapter 11**

"You can't stay here unprotected Nix, and seeing as how your home isn't sun-proofed I can't stay here either. The only viable option at this point is for you to move in with me. We can work together to try and find your friend and I can protect you if anything should happen to you_._" She'd known that she wouldn't be able to live at home anymore, everything was a mess, and in case that thing came back she didn't want to be alone. Plus the idea of living with Eric was tempting, what sort of sane woman would say no?

_'How long will you be able to fight demon? Your blood calls to us,'_ She didn't know why those words suddenly emerged from her mind but it raised a good question. "When I fought that monster in your neighborhood it said something to me," Eric cocked an eyebrow at her, she'd forgotten that she'd killed the man for most of the fight, she couldn't help but snort. Eric gave her another questioning look but she didn't elaborate, getting back on track she continued. "It said 'Your blood calls to us'," Eric noticeably stiffened, "What does that mean?"

Eric began pacing, he didn't want to lie to her but he didn't want to scare her either. However he knew that if he didn't tell her she would be at greater risk. "Demon blood is extremely addictive."

"Okay, so it tastes good." Whatever Eric wanted to protect Nix from, now was not the time to beat around the bush.

"It doesn't just taste good Nix. Demon blood sings to us and pulls us in." The knowledge seemed to sink in because Nix furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Is that why I've never met other demons before? They've been getting hunted down and drained?"

"Yes. Hunters and trackers make their livings by hunting demons and selling their blood or the demons themselves. On the market a few ounces of demon blood can cost hundreds of dollars, even if it's diluted to the point that it doesn't even smell like blood anymore."

"Oh my god, Eric," Nix pulled the card out and read the sentences over again. She'd pieced another part of the puzzle together. "'The huntsman waits for the awakening?' Holy shit it all makes sense now." Nix looked up at Eric, "All this shit started a week ago and that's when I started getting stronger, becoming more demon like. That's what the awakening is; it's the maturation of my abilities, my demon blood coming to life, my separation from humanity." Eric was beginning to catch up, how could he have been so slow to realize this?

"You can't be left alone now. We're leaving now, pack your things and let's go." Eric moved to her bedroom scoping the mess for a duffel bag of some sort so she could pack her things.

"Eric, you said it calls to 'us' earlier. I'm just as susceptible to being drained by you as I am alone." Rage and frustration flushed through Eric when he turned around and stare at Nix standing in the doorway to her bedroom, he'd been denying himself this whole time but he couldn't deceive himself, no not now. He'd been craving her blood like no other, he wanted to drink her in, take her essence within himself and feel her life force flowing through his own. Nix looked frightened, scared to take a move towards Eric and it pained him to see her so reluctant to be close to him.

There were so many things he wanted from her it wasn't just her blood that sang his name. He wanted to feel her skin against his, feel the flush of heat against his own cold skin. He wanted to chew on her lip just as when he saw her torment him by chewing on her own. There was more at play here than just blood, he was attracted to Nix, something in him wanted to be with her, if that were not true he would have drained her the first night he brought her to his home instead of nursing her wounds.

"I want to protect you," was all he managed to say with all his emotions running turbulently under his skin. Nix's guarded eyes softened but she kept her distance.

"How can you when you want to drain me dry too?"

"If I wanted to drain you I would have that first night. Instead I cared for you, nursed you, I ignored the burning in my throat to tend to your well being." The image of her battered body lying limply on his bed tore at his insides; he never wanted to see her so broken again. "I want to see you safe more than I want to see you sprawled out naked and lifeless in front of me."

Nix took all this in, it touched her to some degree that Eric had in fact kept his appetite in check and nursed her that night but she was still frightened. She was scared of becoming attached to him. There was no doubt in her mind that she could come to love Eric but if that time should ever come, how would she be able to watch him risk his life for hers? Now that her blood was acting as a GPS tracker she would be in more danger and if she lived with Eric that would only put him in danger as well.

Eric wasn't going to allow Nix to escape; he wouldn't let her walk away from him. It'd been two years and he had only caught glimpses of Nix here and there but those small impressions dug themselves a home inside Eric's mind. Nix brought meaning back into his aimless existence, she added color to his vision when all else was black and white. Rather than saving the world he'd much rather have Nix beside him in bed tucked safely away in his arms. It'd been so long since he let himself care for another, so long. He soon found himself admitting something that he'd never intended, "I love you." The words found their way out of his mouth before he could think twice.

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest cavity and flopped onto the ground. "What?" "I love you," he repeated with renewed vigor. He loved her. Every fiber in his being craved her touch, and when she did touch him it felt as if his skin was being set on fire and his heart would rejuvenate from its long slumber. Every day that he didn't see her his mind would wander and find a small fragment of her memory and latch on to it.

"B-but, what?" she repeated again, scared that her ears had betrayed her. How could he love her? He barely knew her.

"Please, don't make me say it again; I'm only just now coming to grips with it myself." Eric found a duffel bag and threw it to Nix and stalked out the room. His nerves were on edge, the last time he had told someone he loved them was centuries ago, he didn't think it would be possible for him to care for anyone ever again, and then there was Nix. He let out a sigh, when did he let it get this bad? Attachment always lead to disappointment, it's why he made it a habit of his to stay away from people.

Nix took the next five minutes to pack up a few of her clothes, shoes, toiletries. Part of her was reluctant to believe Eric but the other part of her jumped for joy. Did Eric's confession mean it was alright for her to accept her feelings for him? There was nothing holding her back now, nothing except herself, that and Max was still missing. _Idiot! Max is still missing and here you are gushing because someone said they loved you_, clamping down her melting pot of feelings Nix zipped up for duffel bag and met up with Eric.

He was standing in front of the entrance to her house; it looked like he was thinking about something. She stayed silent for a minute and saw one of Eric's eyes open to peer down at her. "I'm not saying I love you," _at least not yet_, "but you haven't killed me yet and you've had lots of opportunities. So I trust you Eric." Eric simply nodded. They quickly left Nix's house and headed back to Eric's.

"What are you thinking about?" Eric asked her as they sped down the highway.

"Just making a list of the pro's and con's regarding the issue of living with you," Nix said whimsically. That earned her a chuckle.

"What are the con's so far?"

Nix scrunched her face together, "haven't thought of any yet. It's worrying." Nix gave Eric a sideways glance and smiled.

"Pam tells me I'm a great roommate so don't fret too much." Eric patted Nix's leg and it sent tingles up her spine.

Trying to steer her mind off of the idea of having incredible mind blowing sex with Eric Nix concentrated on trying to make small talk. "Who's Pam?" she asked.

"She's my progeny," Nix raised an eyebrow, "I'm her maker," he clarified.

"Ah, when I was stumbling around in your basement I found a note she left for you." Eric gave Nix a look of boredom. "Cute fish," Nix smiled and Eric rolled his eyes.

"Eric the fish," Eric said sardonically.

"Not just any fish," Nix cut in, "a beta fish," she winked at him.

"Just for future reference, I didn't kill my last fish, it saw its reflection in the glass bowl and he head butted himself to death." Nix laughed until her sides hurt. Fish weren't that hard to take care of, you just had to clean their bowls and feed them; still the idea of seeing Eric cleaning out a fish bowl was something she'd pay to see. "If you keep laughing you might choke on your own spit," Eric warned comically.

"Oh god Eric, you suck at taking care of pets don't you?" Eric looked out the car window as if something caught his eye. "Why does Pam buy you fish knowing you suck at taking care of them?"

"She likes watching me suffer. As you may have noticed, I'm not very good with house chores either. I find them tedious." She remembered seeing all his clothes littering the floor, yup he sucked at house work. If he had been a living human there would have been no doubt in her mind that he would have been the type to order out each night, which reminded her, she hadn't eaten since they'd left the house and it was nearly midnight.

"Mind if we make a quick stop at the grocery? I want to stock up on food since I'll be living with you for a while." Eric awkwardly adjusted himself and felt his pockets,

"I don't have my wallet on me." He looked at Nix like he was a child that had just lost their favorite toy. Nix snorted,

"I hardly expected you to pony up the cash for MY groceries." Nix reached over Eric to open the glove department, after ruffling through some papers she came to a small envelope with a few bills in it.

"How much?" He asked as he eyed the envelope.

"It's just a couple twenties, no big deal." Eric handed her the bills and slipped the envelope back into its compartment. Nix spotted a 24/7 grocery and pulled into the parking lot. "I'm going to run in real quick and just get some groceries for a couple days, you coming with?" Eric was out of the car and opening her door in a flash. "I'll take that as a yes," Eric smiled and closed the door behind her. They shopped quickly; Eric was carrying the basket for her even though she said she was able to do it on her own.

"I'd feel useless just walking by your side doing nothing." Nix hated feeling useless herself so she let him do as he pleased. As they went down the aisles Nix picked up packages of meat, bread, eggs, ingredients for salad, and milk. "So how do you get your food? I haven't seen you eat yet and I don't see any beautiful ladies to drink from." Eric grinned and began scanning the food at the do-it-yourself checkout counter.

"I was wondering when you'd ask." Eric's demeanor was playful but Nix could tell there was something he was just itching to get out.

"You seem excited, care to share?"

"I don't need to feed regularly anymore. Once or twice a month should do it and even then I have blood supplements I can take if I don't feel like hunting." Nix bagged all the groceries and they made their way back to the car.

"How?" She asked as they put the groceries away in the trunk.

"Amelia is a great witch you know." She knew Amelia was smart and strong for a witch, but she had no idea Amelia was capable of doing things like this.

"Well," Nix started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, "what did Amelia do?"

Eric lost the playful look on his face right then, "I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you." Instead of being intimidated or scared Nix felt like laughing right in his face.

"Riggght. You wouldn't kill me." Oddly enough she felt sure of this.

"You're right, I wouldn't. I just wanted to see if I could scare you." Eric threw up his hands in surrender, "but alas, I cannot even get you to admit you love me let alone scare you."

"I've only known you a couple days Eric, hell, I thought your name was David until last night!" Eric chuckled softly.

"No pressure or anything but the fate of this earth rests on your love for me." Nix gave Eric a cold stare, "only joking," he said lightheartedly, "sort of." She wouldn't help the tug at the corner of her lips; the girl had to admit that Eric had a quirky sense of humor.

"Really Eric, what did Amelia do?" She asked seriously.

"Nothing much, just some spells and then she created plasma pills for me."

"Don't you like to hunt?" what was the point of being a vampire if you couldn't hunt?

"After centuries of tasting humans I've grown tired of them. The hunt isn't as fun as it used to be and I'd rather not waste energy glamoring my prey when I could simply take a small pill."

"Well that bites, no pun intended," Eric gave her a calm look. "What fun is it to just take a pill?"

"When you've lived as long as I have hunting humans begins to lose its appeal. It's like if you played hide and seek everyday with the same people that hid in the same spot each time, it's boring and not at all fun. Plus the blood isn't all it's cracked up to be." Eric gave her a lopsided grin. "Although I'm sure your blood would be quite tasty."

"I'm sure it would. We'll leave that for emergencies though."

"Don't ever give me your blood." Eric warned her. "I'm not usually inclined to taste demon blood when I'm in the presence of it but when I'm next to you," Eric closed his eyes in silent appreciation, "I ache for it. If I should ever have a taste of your blood I'm fearful that I may not be able to hold back." In the darkness Nix had trouble seeing, but she could tell Eric's face was hard as stone and his eyes were dead serious. He was actually scared of hurting her.

"But," she hesitated, "say something were to happen and you were hurt. Would having some blood heal you?"

Eric dropped his head, "Yes." _For emergencies then_.

They were bringing groceries into the house when something knocked Nix to the ground. Immediately she pushed out with her legs and sent the assailant flying. Nix got right back on her feet and waited for her attacker to make another move. She thought the attacker was pulling out a weapon but instead she was smoothing down her shirt and wiping away invisible lint. The woman tucked her long sun bleached blonde hair behind her ears and gave Eric a cheeky look.

"Hello Eric, have you seen the fish?" The woman cocked an eyebrow and grinned at Nix.


End file.
